A 'delicate situation' for King Charles: Royal soft power and diplomacy in the face of world turmoil
Monarch held meetings with Zelenskyy and Trudeau at Sandringham Estate
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A high-profile invitation for a state visit. A warm welcome to a private residence in the countryside. A display of military honours worn on the chest.
King Charles, who as a constitutional monarch acts on the advice of the governments where he is head of state, hasn't made any official public statements on current high-level political matters that are critical for those countries. Nor would he, unless a prime minister asked him to.
But in his recent actions, there could be subtle signals and a reflection of the kind of soft power and diplomacy the monarchy can try to exert.
In recent days, Charles has — via an envelope hand-delivered in the Oval Office in front of the TV cameras by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer — extended the invitation for an unprecedented second state visit to U.S. President Donald Trump.
The King also had hearty handshakes and warm welcomes to his Sandringham Estate for both Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy — fresh off his Oval Office clash with Trump — and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
While some have questioned Charles's official silence in the face of Trump's repeated comments about Canada becoming the 51st state, Trudeau indicated before meeting the King that they would talk about sovereignty.
"This is one of those situations where King Charles III is in a rather delicate situation, as he acts on the advice of his prime minister, but he has 15 different prime ministers, and it's clear that the British and Canadian prime ministers have different priorities at this time," Toronto-based royal author and historian Carolyn Harris said in an interview.
"Prime Minister Trudeau is focused on the threat to sovereignty, whereas Prime Minister Starmer is trying to keep a harmonious trade relationship with the United States."
The King and Trudeau met on Monday morning at Sandringham in the Norfolk countryside, northeast of London. After the meeting, Trudeau posted to social media that they "spoke about matters of importance to Canadians — including, above all, Canada's sovereign and independent future."
Not long after that visit, observers were quick to note that Charles displayed Canadian military honours on his chest during a visit to a Royal Navy aircraft carrier.
"There were reports that King Charles III is very interested in the situation in Canada, and then the next day, he was seen in Britain wearing some of his Canadian military honours — once again, a subtle way of indicating support for Canada without issuing any official statements that might contradict advice that he's received from his British prime minister," Harris said.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson told CBC they don't comment on Charles's medals or dress, but that it is not unusual for him to wear the Canadian decorations as part of the array.
Still, the appearance of the Canadian honours during Charles's visit to HMS Prince of Wales was widely noted.
"That was a visit to a Royal Navy vessel, so that was almost certainly not an accident," Craig Prescott, a constitutional expert and lecturer in law at Royal Holloway, University of London, said in an interview.
"That is, of course, a very clear sign of the King wanting to be seen [to be] supporting the U.K. military, but also supporting the Canadian military. And there have been discussions of Canadians playing an active role in Europe.
"So I think it ties in with all of that. But again, I think it was — in a way, it might be in a too-subtle way for those at the White House, but ... again, an assertion of Canadian nationhood."
Prescott says Trudeau's comments before the meeting were unusual.
"Normally what happens is you just see a photograph afterwards," he said. "There's not normally much of a preview for these meetings."
Prescott thinks that shows that Trudeau "was keen to play up the role of the King a little bit."
Given the "51st state" rhetoric coming from Trump, Prescott suggested, "just for Trudeau to be seen with the King is to say [to Trump]: 'You know, we are not your plaything. You know, we have our own higher authority here already. We don't need you.' I think that's a very interesting dynamic that's building."
Robert Hardman, an author and royal expert with the Daily Mail, says while the King would take advice from prime ministers in the Commonwealth, none of them would want to drag him into politics.
"I can't imagine the King is ever going to make any kind of public pronouncement, either as King of the U.K. or King of Canada, without a very direct instruction from the respective head of government," Hardman told CBC in London.
"But the way he does things, it's much more nuanced. It's much more in the margins."
For Charles, there has been quite a transition from his time as Prince of Wales, when the public was aware of his opinions on a range of topics, Harris said.
"Once he became King, King Charles III made clear that he would be focused on his duties as a constitutional monarch, so what we have seen instead is King Charles III being able to exert some diplomatic soft power by bringing people together," she said.
"The monarch has the ability to issue invitations that are very rarely refused."
The British government would have been counting on that with Trump, whose admiration of the monarchy is well known.
"This enthusiasm for spending time with members of the Royal Family and also the trappings of monarchy is being harnessed in an effort to smooth the path of Anglo-American relations at a very tumultuous time when the United States is behaving very unpredictably towards former allies," Harris said.
Meeting leaders at Sandringham also sends a message.
"It is King Charles III's own property rather than one of the estates that is owned by the British government. So that's a subtle way of indicating personal support," Harris said.
"It was clear that King Charles III was very glad to meet with the president of Ukraine during this very difficult time. So there are ways of signalling that King Charles III's personal sympathies are with Ukraine."
Still, for Charles, however he handles the soft power and diplomacy on the high wire of current world turmoil is a test.
"This is clearly, I think, his first big challenge of his reign," Prescott said.
"Merely following the Elizabeth II playbook may not necessarily yield the right answers and ... he has to think of his own approach here.
"I think we've already seen that he's willing to be ... a lot sharper about these sorts of things — that yes, it's not party political, but I think with the Queen, it might have been left at levels of symbolism — if there's a doubt about not doing something, don't do it. I think [with Charles], there's a slightly less cautious approach."
— With files from CBC's Briar Stewart in London
Looking for signals at the Commonwealth Day service
King Charles could send more signals on Monday when members of the Royal Family gather in Westminster Abbey in London for the annual Commonwealth Day service.
Both Charles and Catherine, Princess of Wales, missed the service last year as they were undergoing treatment for cancers that had been diagnosed a few weeks earlier.
But both are expected to be at this year's service, which celebrates the people and cultures of the Commonwealth's 56 member states, representing almost one-third of the world's population.
"I think that could be very, very interesting, because the King does have the Commonwealth Day message," Prescott said.
Might that message, Prescott wonders, somehow reference the situation in Europe, with war in Ukraine, and how other countries are responding?
"If Australia and Canada in particular are going to contribute, then that might well be something that is mentioned," he said.
"But just how far it goes will be interesting, because some Commonwealth members have taken a decidedly un-British approach to Ukraine.... You've seen Commonwealth members abstaining or sometimes even voting with Russia in the UN."
That makes framing any message from Charles as head of the Commonwealth "very difficult," Prescott said, "because as is so often the case, the Commonwealth doesn't have a common position on this."
At a time when there are questions about the role and relevance of the Commonwealth, the service also provides an opportunity to focus attention on it.
"There's an opportunity to make the case for the Commonwealth on the world stage and what it can achieve by bringing all of these countries together," Harris said.
Harris also sees potential for the Commonwealth's humanitarian efforts to grow in prominence, particularly as the United States cuts foreign aid programs.
She will also watch for other subtle signals out of the service: Will King Charles wear some of his Canadian military or naval honours? Will there be any Maple Leaf or snowflake brooches on display?
"Among some of the women of the Royal Family, certainly it's easy to over-interpret the significance of fashion choices such as these, but it will be interesting to see if any gifts from visits to Canada are on display during the Commonwealth service."
Charles is marking Commonwealth Day in another way, too: through an Apple Music show, The King's Music Room. In the show recorded at Buckingham Palace, he shares a personal playlist featuring genres from disco and reggae to Afrobeats and singers including Grace Jones, Bob Marley and Kylie Minogue.
Signals on the domestic front
There have also been royal reports in recent days on the domestic front — the very domestic front.
Both King Charles and Queen Camilla have new dogs. In Camilla's case, it's a rescue Jack Russell terrier cross female puppy called Moley. For Charles, it's a Lagotto Romagnolo puppy called Snuff.
While getting a new dog can be a happy occurrence for any family, Charles and Camilla's new canine companions will likely continue to attract attention in the years ahead.
"There is ... a very long history of royal pets having a certain degree of public prominence as part of the public image of monarchy, but also being very important to individual members of the Royal Family," Harris said.
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Camilla spoke of the comfort their dogs brought her and Charles.
"During that time of social isolation, when she wasn't able to hug her grandchildren ... being warmly greeted by her pets was very important," Harris said.
In previous generations, when a royal upbringing could be isolating and involve being tutored at home, pets became treasured companions.
"Queen Victoria was very close to her dog, Dash, who she continued bathing herself even after she became Queen," Harris said.
Camilla's new companion comes from the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, as did another of her previous dogs, Beth, which died late last year.
"We're seeing more widely the King and Queen setting the tone for the importance of adopting rescue animals," Harris said.
Camilla became patron of the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in 2016. Victoria had served as the home's first royal patron, taking on the position in 1885.
"The Royal Family very much took the lead in addressing the topic of cruelty to animals in the 19th century," Harris said. "Queen Victoria becoming the first royal patron of the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home was a way of signalling royal support for better treatment of animals."
For some observers, that seems a contradiction, given the Royal Family's interest in hunting and shooting parties on their estates.
"That has been a controversy for a very long time," Harris said.
"The shooting parties are sometimes presented as being a way of managing animal populations on these estates. That argument hasn't always been convincing. And certainly there have been calls for the Royal Family to give up shooting simply because they are so prominent and they set an example for others."
Royal pets started appearing with some regularity in portraits in the Tudor period, Harris said. Later on, they gained a new prominence in paintings of Kings Charles I and II.
"Charles II's love of his King Charles spaniels with sort of the floppy ears, looking a bit like the King's wig, meant that King Charles spaniels became very associated with royalty."
Queen Victoria loved animals, and in her reign, her pets sometimes signalled diplomatic relations she had with other powers.
"She had a pony from the king of Sardinia," Harris said. "The shah of Persia presented her with a pair of Tibetan goats and a goat herd was established at Windsor Castle."
One of Victoria's animals, however, has been highlighted by some modern historians as a symbol of some of the more negative traits of the British Empire.
"The first Pekingese dog to be introduced in Britain was looted from the emperor of China's summer palace during the Second Opium War and then presented to Queen Victoria," Harris said. "Unlike the goats and the parakeet and the pony, this wasn't an official gift to the Queen. This dog was looted, and the dog was actually named Looty."
King Edward VII's dog Caesar, a wire fox terrier, was well known to the public, and had a prominent place in the monarch's funeral procession in 1910.
"I would argue that we don't see a royal pet being seen by such a large audience again until the 2012 Olympics, with the corgis running about as [Queen Elizabeth] gets into the helicopter with Daniel Craig," Harris said, referencing the James Bond sketch that was part of the Games' opening ceremony.
In the 21st century, dogs continue to be closely associated with the Royal Family.
"The Royal Family enjoys country pursuits, spending time outside, so Queen Elizabeth II and her corgis, and now King Charles III and Queen Camilla and their dogs — we see dogs being associated with the head of state."
Royally quotable
"Whether protecting vital shipping lanes, fostering partnerships with our allies or indeed remaining alert and at readiness for eventualities that we hope may never come to pass, your work helps to ensure the safety and prosperity of the United Kingdom, our allies and our partners."
— King Charles, in a speech to Royal Navy sailors and others during his visit to HMS Prince of Wales.
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