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The Lead with Jake Tapper
King Charles Begins High-Stakes Diplomatic Visit to U.S.; Now, King and Queen Attending British Embassy Garden Party; King Charles in U.S. Amid Frayed Relations Due to Iran War; King Charles Begins High- Stakes Diplomatic Visit To U.S. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired April 27, 2026 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[18:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper exclusively live at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. We're right now behind the foliage over here. King Charles and Queen Camilla are attending a garden party being thrown for them by the British ambassador. It's part of their state visit to the United States, which has also become not just a way to honor of the U.S. during our 250th birthday, but a high-stakes diplomatic mission for the king.
The royal couple briefly stopped by the White House this afternoon for an informal greeting by President Trump and the first lady, a tea, they had tea. The royals will return to the White House in the morning for a full ceremonial welcome and a chance to smooth over tensions between the Trump administration and the British government (INAUDIBLE) attack the (INAUDIBLE) in recent weeks after Starmer refused to directly help the U.S. military in its war against Iran, although he has allowed the U.S. to use their bases and there has been other help.
But beyond that, there is this sense of heightened security around this visit, of course, after the horrific attempted assassination at Saturday Night's White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, the suspect officially charged today with attempting to assassinate the president of the United States, the third such attempt on President Trump's life.
CNN's Kristen Holmes is at the White House for us. Kristen, walk us through what we saw when King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived today (INAUDIBLE) expect tomorrow?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. So, we saw them pull up. We saw the normal greetings without any of the fanfare that we often see when these foreign leaders come. They could have come in the front through the Oval Office, through the West Wing. Sometimes we see foreign leaders do that. You can have an opportunity to ask a few questions. That was not what we saw today. But, again, of course, this isn't the big visit. They'll be back tomorrow.
And now you are -- we also saw a sit-down meeting, this was just in photos, between the two couples, and we know that President Trump and the first lady brought him over to see the White House beehive, and then, of course, we have tomorrow when President Trump and King Charles will have a one-on-one meeting before Charles delivers an a joint address to Congress and then the state dinner at the White House tomorrow night.
Now, it'll be interesting to see whether or not they actually ha use this, or at least King Charles uses this moment as an opportunity for diplomacy. King Charles is not somebody who is involved usually in day-to-day politics, but there is an opportunity for him to try and smooth over the relationship with Prime Minister Starmer in these kind of meetings that he is having rolling.
Now, I think what's really interesting to me so far is that there hasn't been an opportunity for the president to be speaking next to the king, and we'll see if that's by design. Because one very awkward moment would be if, for chance, we saw President Trump attacking Starmer while standing next to the king, something that certainly the British do not want from this trip. They want this to be much more of a collegial trip. They want this to be about the relationship between the two countries. They don't want any kind of imagery of President Trump attacking Starmer while, of course, standing next to the king.
This will be a four-day state visit. These are the first two days in Washington, and then, of course, the king will also be in New York.
TAPPER: All right. Kristen Holmes at the White House for us, thank you so much.
Joining me here is Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania. Congressman, thanks so much for being here. I really appreciate it.
First of all, what are your expectations, actually, what are your hopes, what are your hopes for this? Because the U.S.-U.K. relationship is not great right now and there have been comments by Trump against Prime Minister Starmer. Starmer made comments earlier today about how -- basically suggesting that the U.K. is not going to get involved in wars that the U.S. want -- I'm paraphrasing -- that the U.S. wants them to, that are not in their best interest, kind of a swipe at Tony Blair and George W. Bush. There's obviously repairs that need to be made. Can this trip help?
REP. BRENDAN BOYLE (D-PA): Well, I think we have to have realistic expectations first, given the British system. There's only so far Charles can go venturing into politics, and, of course, this visit back in the U.K. is deeply unpopular in their own country. So, I think Charles is doing it, I suspect, to attempt to smooth over relations.
But let's face the reality, whether it's the U.K. or Canada or Germany or France or any of our traditional allies, Donald Trump is deeply unpopular right now, and, unfortunately, sadly, by extension, so is the United States.
[18:05:03]
TAPPER: So, I do want to ask you, because there are folks out there who heard me introduce you, and your name is Brendan Boyle. I do have to --
BOYLE: A great Italian name, as you can tell.
TAPPER: And so the last president, who was a very proud Irishman, Joe Biden, would constantly make references to how much his mother hated the royal family. Not these two individuals, but he would say this all the time. It was a source of pride, how much the Irish from that generation disliked the Brits. They were just avatars of it. How's your family doing with your belief in the special relationship?
BOYLE: Well, I guess I'll find out which ones are watching you, Jake, when I get off here. But, no, I mean, in all seriousness, I'm very proud Irish American. My father and all four of my grandparents were born and raised in Ireland. Actually, Charles's mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was welcomed in Ireland in 2012, a very popular visit because in part she went to the Garden of Remembrance, which is where all of the Irish rebel leaders, or most of them, are buried. And she laid wreath and bowed her head and then gave a speech in Dublin Castle, which was the center of British rule when they colonized Ireland. And she actually began her speech in the Irish language. So, it was a great conciliatory moment.
And so today, the U.K. and Ireland, while there were hiccups during Brexit, the U.K. and Ireland actually have a very good relationship, and the U.K. is also a very important U.S. ally. So, I'm happy to be here. While I'm not a monarchist, I have to say, I do. After all, I represent Independence Hall in my Congressional district. So, I can't say I support the concept of monarchy. But the reality is he's the head of state and I want to be here to show respect to an important U.S. ally.
TAPPER: Do you understand President Trump's frustration, not just with the U.K. but with European allies, given the fact that many of them are happy that the ayatollah is dead, the first ayatollah? Now we have a new one. But -- and many of --
BOYLE: A newer one who's younger and worse.
TAPPER: But many of them are happy that the nuclear program, the nuclear weapons program in Iran has been set back both because of the strikes in June and the recent strikes. And his argument -- I'm just playing devil's advocate here, but his argument is like, how about a little help? Like we need the Strait of Hormuz open. This helped -- this benefited you guys more than us, arguably.
BOYLE: Yes. So, I mean, a brief history here. Of course, the U.S. and U.K. are close allies, but we haven't always supported one another. President Eisenhower actually stood up to the U.K. and France during the Suez crisis in 1956. In many ways, it showed the end of British rule around the world in the 1960s. The Brits returned the favor to us and didn't support us during Vietnam.
So, there have been those moments actually in which the U.S. and U.K. have seen not eye-to-eye on things. That's a sign of a mature relationship. In those previous examples I cited, it was treated with respect and not the sort of petty insults that we hear from Trump directed toward the prime minister.
TAPPER: What more do you -- are you going to the state dinner?
BOYLE: Not the state dinner. My invite must have gotten lost in the mail from this White House.
TAPPER: Yes.
BOYLE: But I will be at the address tomorrow in front of a joint session conference.
TAPPER: What do you want to hear from him? What do you want King Charles to say?
BOYLE: Yes. Well, again, I recognize that in his system, he really has a challenge because, on the one hand, he has to assert, you know, British interests. They'll probably talk about a shared history in the 20th century after a very difficult history in the 18th and 19th centuries.
He might make some subtle allusions to the fact that we need to be united in the defense of liberty and our shared fight against authoritarianism. And perhaps that will be seen as a mild rebuke of the fact we currently have a president who likes to praise Putin, Orban and the authoritarians of today and so often attacks the democratically-elected leaders in Western Europe.
TAPPER: All right. Congressman Brenda Boyle, great city of Philadelphia, thank you so much.
Much more on King Charles' historic visit and the high-stakes diplomacy. Ahead, the British ambassador is going to join me on set to preview the king's sit-down with President Trump.
This is The Lead, live and exclusive from the British Embassy. Stick with us,
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TAPPER: And we're back live and exclusive at the British embassy in Washington, D.C. We're just a few feet away. King Charles and Queen Camilla are attending a garden party thrown for them by the U.K. ambassador. They're kicking off their state visit to mark the 250th anniversary of America's independence from the U.K., no offense.
The stakes are however incredibly high for this trip. The frayed relationship between President Trump and the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, is quite notable.
Joining us now to discuss, CNN's Max Foster, who's been with King Charles down in the garden just a few minutes ago. What was that like, Max? What'd you see? Was he talking to people?
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, this is his first opportunity to really mingle. We've had members of the cabinet there. Scott Bessent was there. Howard Lutnick was there. Stephen Miller was there. So, that was one group. And they're moving basically between different groups of gathered people. So, then there was a more of a -- sort of a high-profile personality crowd. Our own Kaitlan Collins was. She's just to the side of us. So, she was meeting him as well.
And then there was a quite poignant moment where you saw the queen moving to speak to a group of charities that work with domestic violence survivors. And this is something you're going to see her do several times during the trip. And this is in reference partly -- I mean, it's an ongoing cause for her, but she, you know, they asked lots of questions about Epstein. They feel they can't talk about that, but they can show that they always put survivors first. So that was a -- you know, she spent a lot of time with them actually.
TAPPER: Yes. I mean, I don't want to hold to have this whole second be about that but, I mean, we have a lot of Epstein survivors on the show and family members and the like and, you know the relatives of Virginia Giuffre who allegedly had this -- you know, I don't even know what to say about it, but Prince Andrew was involved.
[18:15:02]
Why not just meet with a couple survivors? I mean, that would probably do so much good.
FOSTER: Because the king's the head of the judiciary. He is currently prosecuting his brother as head of the police service. If it goes all the way, Andrew could end up in one of the king's prisons. It's seen as any sort of interference in that process, would be seen as prejudicial to the trial, prejudicial to his role. That's --
TAPPER: Even if it was the queen, it's still --
FOSTER: yes, I think the association -- you know, it's a legitimate question and a lot of people have asked it, which is why I'm sort of referencing how they're dealing with it. So, people will come up with their own ways of dealing with that. But, you know, Howard Lutnick is here and obviously he's got some associations as well, so (INAUDIBLE) to see that. You can tell me more about that, but, you know, I was surprised to see someone who hasn't referred to.
TAPPER: Yes. Let's talk about the state visit because obviously there is a lot on the line here. The relationship is frayed President Trump calling the British prime minister -- what did he call him? A moron? A loser, he called him a loser. I'm sorry, I can't always keep it straight. What is the king going to say in his speech tomorrow before the U.S. Congress?
FOSTER: He is going to start talking -- referencing Saturday night and talk about how we are shoulder to shoulder, the two countries, and it's a message of solidarity. Then he's going to go quite deep into history and talk about world wars and how we have fought together alongside each other, but we've also had our differences over the centuries as well, so trying to move away from the current crisis in relations with the government. He's separating himself from that. I mean, there is a potentially sensitive part of it. He's saying actually one of the greatest things to come out of this relationship was NATO.
TAPPER: That's something the president --
FOSTER: Tell me what you think of that.
TAPPER: Well, I mean, it's interesting. I don't disagree with it but it is something that -- NATO's not high on the president's list right now, but, I mean, it's obviously good to assert that. I mean, the relationship and the importance of NATO is huge.
Something else that you told me about earlier today that is kind of pointed back to Trump from Keir Starmer is he basically compared the war in Iran to the war in Iraq in terms of we're not going to do that again. We're not going to follow the U.S. into a war that has nothing to do with us, that's bad for us. Again, I thought that was pretty pointed.
FOSTER: Well, this was an interesting context because one of Donald Trump's biggest issues with Keir Starmer is that he didn't support America early on in the war. And Starmer earlier on was saying, it's not our war. He's kind of ended up with a bit of a compromise where he is helping a bit. So, he is actually annoyed a lot of different groups because he's not leaning on one side or the other. Spain, for example, is very much gone not -- we're not going to help America.
But it was interesting what Starmer said today, which was referencing -- we don't -- I can't remember the exact words, but he referenced Iraq in relation to Iran. And this is because Blair's decision to support Bush with Iraq was seen as a massive British failure based on wrong evidence. And he's basically saying, I view the situation in the same way. I don't want Iran to be my Iraq.
TAPPER: Yes. It was probably a slam at Tony Blair more than anybody else, but certainly not friendly fire to the U.S.
Max Foster, stay close. Stay with us. We're going to have much more live from the British embassy moments as King Charles and embarks on this very important high stakes diplomatic trip. The British foreign secretary is going to join me live on set for an exclusive interview. Don't go anywhere.
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TAPPER: And we're back with our breaking news and our World Lead. King Charles and Queen Camilla are just a few feet away from us here. They're attending a formal garden party right here at the British ambassador's residence. The diplomatic stakes could not be higher, lots of tension between the U.S. and U.K. these days. President Trump has said the state of the special relationship is not good mainly, he says, because the U.K is not fighting Iran alongside the U.S. He's called Prime Minister Keir Starmer a loser. Joining me now for an exclusive interview is the British foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper. Secretary Cooper, so --
YVETTE COOPER, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: Thank you for having me.
TAPPER: Thank you so much for being here. I don't think I'm breaking any news to you when I tell you that there are senior political figures in the U.K. who didn't think the king should go through with this visit for any number of reasons, including the personal insults that the president has been throwing at the prime minister. You asked the king to not heed that advice. You wanted him to come. Why?
COOPER: Yes. Look, this is really important to his majesty, the king, but it's really important to the U.K. It's really important, I think, for our relationship, the U.K.-U.S. relationship. We are here because this is the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence. And it is, I think, really symbolic of the strength of our relationship through very, very many generations that we want in the U.K. to celebrate 250th anniversary of what was effectively our defeat. But we still think this is something --
TAPPER: You guys are very funny about this.
COOPER: It's a celebration. It really is.
TAPPER: Is it weird at all that you're celebrating 250 years since we beat you? That's strange.
COOPER: Yes, exactly. But that in itself, that, I think, really shows the strength and the richness of the U.S.-U.K. relationship that goes back through so many generations. And, you know, whether it's on trade, on security, but also those people to people links.
I first came --
TAPPER: I have a sneeze coming.
COOPER: This is the downside of having a --
TAPPER: So much pollen in the air. There was so much pollen. Okay, I'm sorry.
COOPER: That was beautiful, beautiful --
TAPPER: The cameraman was not on me. Good work. Keep going, sorry.
COOPER: You're right. So, the pollen is high, but it is beautiful here. You have to say it's --
TAPPER: No, it's gorgeous. This is like some of the best real estate in the United States, much less D.C.
So, Trump has lashed out on everything, from the failure of the U.K. to fight the Iran war. I know you're contributing in other ways, airspace and bases, but also North Sea oil drilling, the tariffs. There was a lot of tension in the tariffs. [18:25:00]
How did the special relationship get this bad? It's not as bad as it was in 1812 when you were torching our White House, but it's not good. Can it be repaired?
COOPER: So, I want to figure is the -- of course, when you've got a strong relationship, the depth, richness of the one that we have going back so many years, of course, there are always going to be things that we disagree about and things that we agree about. There will be things where we take different views, but also things where we work immensely, closely together.
And the first time that I came to set visits, for example, with the NSA or the CIA and to see the work of the Pentagon, some of that joint working on security and intelligence between our countries was more than 25 years ago. As a member of the Intelligence and Security Committee then, I could see how closely --
TAPPER: Is it still that close? Is Five Eyes -- Five Eyes, for people who don't know, it's the U.K. and New Zealand and Australia and Canada and the United States intelligence agencies all working together. Is that as close now as it always --as it ever has been?
COOPER: So, I think that the security intelligence cooperation, that Five Eyes worked the way in which we share intelligence, I would say it has got stronger and got deeper really in the 25 years since I first had meetings on this. And that's partly because we have the shared technology and the interaction but also the work between teams, between people.
And that I think really in the end is what this visit comes down to. It's why it's important for his majesty the king is because it's those people to people links that are so deep and also have so many consequences for our security, for our shared security, for our economy. There's 2.5 million jobs that are dependent on the trade between our two countries because that trade has been so longstanding, but also so important for the future as well.
TAPPER: Do you understand why President Trump is so frustrated with Keir Starmer and with Europe for not doing more to help defeat a regime that everybody in Europe, all the leaders in Europe opposed, did not want to get a nuclear weapon? You guys were arguably more in the line of fire than we here in the United States just in terms of their missile technology. I'm not saying I'm agreeing with him, but do you understand why he is frustrated?
COOPER: So we took a different view on the start of the conflict. But, look, we will work to be -- to make sure that we can work together to bring it to a close and to support the negotiations that have been taking place, and also to make sure that we have the pressure on Iran to stop them trying to hold hostage the global economy with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. We need the Strait of Hormuz open again. We need freedom of navigation. That's a strong U.K. principle.
So, there are things we could work together on, but we did take a different view on the start of the conflict. But the fact that we have such a deep, longstanding relationship means that actually there are things that throughout our history of going back for 250 years, there are things, of course, that we have disagreed on, but there's also, I think, that shared respect, that understanding and also the intelligence cooperation, those deep links as well.
TAPPER: Prime Minister Starmer said something really interesting earlier today. I'm sure you saw it. He was basically -- I'm going to paraphrase, but it was basically, we're not going to follow the United States into a war that's not in our best interests, even if previous prime ministers did that kind of a slap at Tony Blair on the war in Iraq. Is that also part of what's going on here, kind of the regret that so many Britains feel about participation in the Iraq war, which never would've happened if President Bush hadn't asked Tony Blair for help?
COOPER: They certainly always, I think, have to learn lessons from history. And, you know, that's a long history, goes through, you know, many different iterations. So, there's the areas where we have worked immensely, closely together. For example, after 9/11 and one of the things that his majesty will be doing this week is paying tributes to the lives lost in 9/11. That was the time when the -- it was the only time the Article 5 of NATO has been exercised and the U.K. stood with the U.S. in that time of need.
TAPPER: Oh, yes, it's the only time.
COOPER: And it was immensely important. It's the only time the Article 5 has been triggered. So, you have that shared history, but we also have areas that we disagree on.
TAPPER: Yes.
COOPER: And, ultimately, in the end, look, the job for the U.S. president is to make decisions based on what he thinks is in the interest of the U.S. The job of the U.K. prime minister is to make decisions based on what is in the interests of the U.K. So, of course, they have different responsibilities. That's the right thing for U.K. prime minister to focus on the U.K interests and the U.K. history as well.
TAPPER: What is the job of the king? Since he is going to be not only meeting with President Trump many times, he's already met once, and I don't know if there's anything about that meeting you want to tell us about, but also he's going to be speaking to Congress. I mean, he's going to be delivering a big speech. I'm told, he is going to be talking about the importance of NATO in that speech. What does King Charles need to do? I know that the roles are different.
[18:30:01]
He's not here to like make treaties or agreements, but there's a -- the stakes are very high.
COOPER: But the king -- his majesty the king is our head of state and he's above politics. He is not involved in political decisions, policy decisions. But what he does is he really embodies so much of what we feel is important about our country. And those are the things he will be talking about to the president. They have -- as you said, they've already had tea together this afternoon. They'll be meeting again tomorrow, and, of course, the state banquet in the evening. And the king will be again making an address to Congress.
That is a historic moment for us. That's really important, hugely looking forward to that as well. And I think he will talk about that shared history but also the opportunities for the future and really the way in which our country's recognizing our history, but also looking forward to the future, the shared challenges we face at a time of such global instability, the shared future, the economic cooperation, the trade, how we respond to the challenges and opportunities from new technology. We have a lot of cooperation across our countries on some of those issues as well.
But, you know, his majesty, I think this is, I think, his 20th visit to the United States.
TAPPER: Yes. We've heard different numbers, 19, 20.
COOPER: Yes. I'm not --
TAPPER: I heard there were some secret ones, so it makes it -- a royals expert told us it was 24, but --
COOPER: Okay. I am not going to pretend to be an expert. As I understand, so the king was telling me on the plane just before we landed that he was recalling having been here, I think, and stayed in the White House during President Nixon's time as well. So, I mean, huge, long commitments --
TAPPER: Did he meet with one of the Nixon daughters?
COOPER: Oh, no, now you're asking me things I really --
TAPPER: Did I make that up? Okay.
COOERP: -- you know, don't know. And even if I did, it would be hugely undiplomatic to get to discuss it.
TAPPER: Madam Secretary, thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it, British Foreign Secretary of Yvette Cooper.
We're going to have much more from the British embassy in moments. I'm going to be joined live by the deputy ambassador who also used to work for the late Queen Elizabeth II. What does he think about the tensions between the U.S. and U.K. right now? Stick with us.
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[18:35:00]
TAPPER: Welcome back to The Lead. We're live at the British ambassador's residence where King Charles and Queen Camilla are attending a formal garden party with President Trump and the first lady nearby as part of a high-stakes diplomatic state visit to the United States. The king will attempt to use royal diplomacy to help steady strained a U.S.-U.K. relationship.
President Trump and the first lady are not here on site. Of course, they visited with them at the White House earlier today, but a lot of dignitaries from the Trump administration. You see Stephen Miller there, but also Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Lutnick, others are here.
Let's talk about this visit with James Roscoe, the deputy head of mission at the British embassy here in Washington., D. C Thank you so much for being here.
JAMES ROSCOE, DEPUTY BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Thanks.
TAPPER: We appreciate it.
So, things are tense between Keir Starmer, the prime minister, and Donald Trump, the president right now. How much can a king, who is supposedly above politics, how much can he actually help with the relationship?
ROSCOE: I mean, I think the king can help enormously. He is a constitutional ceremonial figure in the U.K., but he is above politics. And in many ways, he transcends politics. And right now, the U.S. is celebrating 250 years of its incredible history. It started off a bit rocky between us but we've developed into the most important relationship, you know, over these last 250 years.
And I think what the king can do is he can draw out those things that really pull us together. So, our incredible defense relationship, he'll go to Arlington, he'll go to 9/11 and mark, you know, both the British and American victims of that, and he'll celebrate the economic ties, $1.3 trillion invested between our two economies, $340 billion a year in trade. These are the things that bind the U.K. and the U.S. together.
TAPPER: Yes. As the foreign secretary just said, you know, there are very different opinions right now when it comes to the Iran war. Can King Charles and his charm offensive and his diplomacy and his talk of things that unite us transcend what is right now a very intense resentment from President Trump?
ROSCOE: I mean, I think the president and the king have a great relationship. I don't think the king is here to talk about politics, but the king is here to remind the president of the incredible things that do bind our two countries together, the incredible history that he represents, the history that the president represents in some ways through his mother and those things about the U.K. that the president loves and has huge affection for, our shared values, you know, are shared constitutional history, our shared legal basis. The king reminds the president, I think, of that really deep relationship and of the connective tissue between our two countries and that's what he'll do.
TAPPER: You were, for years, communication secretary to Queen Elizabeth II. What does the behind the scenes preparation for a visit like this look like? It must be unfathomably intense.
ROSCOE: It is intense. And, you know, both the queen and now the king want to come on these visits and make the most of them. They want to get out and meet people, particularly this king. He wants to get into this garden and talk to people and hear from them and understand why this relationship matters to them.
So, behind the scenes, making sure he's as well briefed as he can be is a really important thing, who are you meeting, what's a good line of conversation with them, just so he feels completely prepped and then can be as natural as possible?
TAPPER: Queen Elizabeth often use soft power. That's what it's called charm. Diplomatic charm is the translation of that, to smooth ties when politicians couldn't. We heard about her doing so after the tension between the U.S. and the U.K. during the Suez crisis when Eisenhower was president. How does that charm -- how does that soft power work, whether with your former boss, Queen Elizabeth, or with King Charles?
[18:40:04]
ROSCOE: I mean, remember when the queen came to the throne? She was only 25 years old. And the king has come to the throne at 73 years old. But both of them --
TAPPER: So, a little bit more prepared.
ROSCOE: A little bit more prepared certainly more steeped in the politics. But also he's been able to shape his own thinking about what he cares about and what he wants to talk about. The queen was so young at 25 and was thrown into the frontline of politics in the most extraordinary way. But she had that innate ability to connect with people because she cared about what they had to say, and that's the soft power.
TAPPER: What do you think the king personally is hoping to achieve with this visit beyond, let's say, you know, better relations between the U.S. and U.K.? Like what does he -- I know he has been to the -- first of all, I don't even know how many times he's been to this country, because nobody can agree it's either 19, 20. I heard 24, if you include some secret visits. Has that even been figured out yet?
ROSCOE: We try not to figure the stats out.
TAPPER: We also had con question about King Charles' relationship with King George II, the one that we went to war with 250 years ago. I think it's five greats.
ROSCOE: The third?
TAPPER: Yes.
ROSCOE: Yes.
TAPPER: Great, great, great, great, great grandfather. Is that your understanding it?
ROSCOE: That's about -- it's five generations.
TAPPER: Okay.
ROSCOE: Yes.
TAPPER: Well, five generations. Anyway, what do you think he's personally hoping to achieve?
ROSCOE: I think the king wants to come and celebrate America 250. This is the most -- this country is the most extraordinary experiment. And in some ways, you know, we had a similar route and we parted company and went in different directions in how we want to govern ourselves, in how we want to allow our countries to develop. But at the same time, so much still unites us. I think what the king wants to do is remind people of those incredible things that unite us.
TAPPER: I mean, specifically what we fought was because we didn't want any more kings.
ROSCOE: What's extraordinary though, is if you look at the history, there were plenty of people in the U.K. at the time who agreed with the revolutionaries in America.
TAPPER: Yes.
ROSCOE: And, of course, there were plenty of people in America who agreed with the British government back in London.
TAPPER: A lot of my ancestors were those guys.
ROSCOE: And that's the interesting thing, right? Ultimately, people will find a way to move forward. And we got through the early part of the 19th century and since then we've built this incredible relationship.
TAPPER: Yes. All right, James Roscoe, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.
Our coverage continues next as we broadcast live and exclusively from the British embassy in D.C. here, where King Charles and Queen Camilla are right behind me socializing with guests at a garden party. But the high-stakes diplomatic mission picks up steam tomorrow as the royals head to the White House and King Charles gives a speech before Congress.
Stick with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:46:21]
TAPPER: Welcome back to our live coverage of King Charles and Queen Camilla's high stakes state visit to the United States. We're live and exclusive at the British embassy in Washington, D.C.,
where the royals are attending a formal garden party, with many distinguished guests being thrown for them by the British ambassador.
We're told that Camilla has gone inside, but the king is still out there socializing. One of the fancy guests here joins me now. She's Esme Morgan, and she's the center back for the England women's national football team. But she also for -- for Americans, she also plays for the Washington Spirit, what we call soccer.
So, what's it like to have the worlds converging, given the king and queen here in D.C., a town where you also play professional?
ESME MORGAN, ENGLISH WOMEN'S NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM: Surreal. It's really special. Like I was saying before that I felt a bit emotional when the national anthem began, and they were just kind of stood there because obviously the royal family means so much to us back home.
And so, yeah, it's surreal being over here in America and having them here too, and such a special occasion, sort of celebrating the relationship between the U.S. and the U.K.
TAPPER: England has won all four matches in the 2027 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. As I'm sure you know. Your top of your group with a perfect record. What's the mood on the team? Is it just like ebullience or are you like, don't jinx it, don't jinx it? What --
MORGAN: I think there's a lot of confidence. Weve been performing well and got a good result. The most recent camp against Spain, who were obviously the world champions. So, there's a lot of confidence that we're in a good place coming into the last two qualifying games.
But yeah, we are a bit superstitious sometimes and like, don't say too much. The jobs not done yet and sort of feet on the floor and make sure we concentrate. Ready for the last couple of games.
TAPPER: Well, you'll have to come on after you win. Knock on wood because we cover a lot of women's athletics on my show. Did you just meet King Charles?
MORGAN: I did.
TAPPER: Was it the first time?
MORGAN: Yeah, it was the first time.
TAPPER: Tell me about it.
MORGAN: I've met Prince William before. And he's lovely, so I thought his dad must be lovely, too.
And it was a surprise, to be honest, because I only got told that I was going to meet her majesty the queen. So then when I got to meet King Charles as well, I was. My legs started to shake. I was like, oh my gosh.
TAPPER: Really?
MORGAN: Yeah.
TAPPER: Oh, wow.
MORGAN: Because it's just surreal. Like the royal family, as I say, is so important in Britain. And to be able to meet the two most important members of it was just, yeah, a real shock.
TAPPER: What -- did he say anything to you?
MORGAN: Did you say. Yeah, I kind of like said, it's lovely to meet you. I'm one of England's Lionesses. And he was like, oh, you're very successful. I said, oh, thanks.
And but he was, he was so sort of relaxed and funny and engaging. And he -- there was an impressionist in our group.
TAPPER: Matt Friend, right?
MORGAN: Yeah. And he started to do his impression of Charles and he was like, I'm working on my impression of you. And Charles said, keep working on it.
So that sort of comedic moment, I was just like, he's just a normal person.
TAPPER: Dry British.
MORGAN: Yeah, really funny.
TAPPER: I can see.
Are you going to any of the other events surrounding the state visit?
MORGAN: I am not, no, this is my one and done, but I'll be keeping -- keeping an eye on it. Maybe I'll tune in to CNN to see what else they're up to.
TAPPER: Please do. Please do. It was so lovely having you here.
MORGAN: Lovely to meet you as well. Thank you.
TAPPER: For being my -- my team wants me to ask you how you're preparing for the next -- the next matches.
MORGAN: Oh, just the usual training schedule. We train out in Leesburg. So yeah, looking forward to it. We're playing against Louisville on Wednesday.
TAPPER: OK.
MORGAN: So, hopefully, we'll win that one.
TAPPER: All right. Good luck to you. Thank you so much.
MORGAN: Thank you.
TAPPER: We're going to have much more from the British embassy. Live in moments as King Charles is right behind us greeting the crowds at a garden party before his meetings with President Trump and his address to Congress tomorrow.
[18:50:03]
Stick with us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: Moments ago here at the British embassy, these images just in. There is King Charles, Queen Camilla, with the British ambassador to the U.S., Sir Christian Turner, and his wife, Lady Claire Turner, who are hosts of this magnificent garden party. This state visit is a high stakes diplomatic opportunity for the king to repair a fractured U.S., U.K. relationship.
And let's bring in the man himself. No, not the king, but the ambassador, Sir Turner.
Thank you so much for being here.
CHRISTIAN TURNER, BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Jake, great to be joining you.
TAPPER: And thank you for letting us do this.
TURNER: Well, this is the relationship at its best. So, the special --
TAPPER: This is special relationship.
TURNER: Special Jake-Christian relationship. So, I have just bid farewell to their majesties at the end of this wonderful event. And it's great to have you here.
TAPPER: So, it's great to be here.
[18:55:00]
It's beautiful. So, before they came here, the king and the queen went to the White House. They met with the president and the first lady. We saw some pictures. We saw them greeting.
It looked very warm. Is there anything you can tell us about that meeting?
TURNER: Well, you know, these are private moments. And at the minute what you're seeing is that so much diplomacy and so much of politics is actually personal. It's that close and intimate relationship. The respect the two principals have for one another. Of course, that goes back to the king's mother, the late Queen Elizabeth.
I don't know whether your viewers will know, but the president has a portrait, the last portrait painted of Queen Elizabeth hanging in Mar- a-Lago. So that sense of affection, that history that goes back to the first state visit in 1939, the queen had -- late queen had four state visits. This is King Charles's 20th time in the United States.
So actually, it's very important, these moments to let the four of them just have a moment together. We'll have a lot of state pageantry tomorrow. The joint address to Congress, this wonderful garden party with 600 or so guests who have kindly joined us, joined us here. But the -- for the two of them, the four of them, it was just a private moment together for some tea.
And then they were shown the White House beehive. I'm happy to say the bees appeared reasonably subdued. I kept my distance at this point, but it was. It was a very nice moment.
TAPPER: Right. So, there is work to be done to repair the relationship, obviously. How much work can a king who's supposed to transcend politics and be above politics, how much work can he even do, given that the beef really seems to be President Trump's disagreeing with Prime Minister Starmer's decision to not directly go to war against Iran with the U.S. and Israel?
TURNER: So, look, let me let me say two things, Jake. First of all, is that actually the relationship between our two countries, it's very wide and deep. And there are multiple touch points all the time. So, although there clearly has been a disagreement between the two governments about that decision prior to the conflict, there's been a huge amount of cooperation since on the Iran war itself, with British bases being used for defensive strikes. We've had over 2,000 sorties from British jets flying in the Middle East and intelligence cooperation.
So, what I see every day is deep cooperation, trade discussions, tech cooperation.
TAPPER: What are those 2,000 sorties about? Just other parts of the --
TURNER: No. Theyre defending the skies, defending the response against Iranian incoming fire. So that is --
TAPPER; Defending the Gulf countries and Israel.
TURNER: The Gulf countries allies, Israel. That's more jets in the air for the U.K. than we've had for 15 years.
So, to say we've not been part of this defensively is not correct. And then I'd also say second, that our two countries have long had moments where there are different approaches to international issues to have a state visit in the middle of a complex situation is not unusual. Actually, it's probably the norm.
George VI visiting on the eve of the Second World War in 1939. I could think of Churchill and Roosevelt disagreeing over how to handle Stalin. I could think of --
TAPPER: Queen Elizabeth coming to talk to Eisenhower during the Suez crisis. TURNER: Exactly. The Suez crisis, or even actually Thatcher and
Reagan, very close colleagues. Big disagreement over Grenada. So, it doesn't actually feel unusual that we would have this. And as you say, the king is above that.
And it's exactly why it's a moment to remind ourselves that this relationship is deep. It will endure. It's between two peoples. And in our two 50th year, it's exactly right to be celebrating it.
TAPPER: So, Iran's foreign minister met with Putin earlier today. This meeting, obviously coming after these peace talks between the U.S. and Iran, they have failed to materialize. The German chancellor today said the U.S. is, quote, being humiliated by Iran.
How do you see this conflict playing out? How do you see it ending the U.S. and Iran?
TURNER: Yeah. Well, you know, judge a country by the company it keeps. I think we are all very, very resolved on two things.
First, that we cannot allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. We must fight to constrain the terror, the threat it has exported. This, after all, is a regime that killed 20,000 -- perhaps up to 30,000 people in three nights. We all share that resolve.
Second is we've got to find a way to end this conflict to open the Straits of Hormuz. The president has blockaded it to put more pressure on. And as I say, the U.K. has been a central part of that conversation. And I really hope we can get those negotiations that the vice president started back on track so we can open up the straits, get trade flowing in a way that helps all of our economies.
TAPPER: Is there anything -- in the 45 seconds we have left, is there anything you can tell us from your private moments with the king and queen that that might interest our viewers?
TURNER: Well, Jake, as you're learning, I'm quite a talkative ambassador, but some things should rightly be kept private.
TAPPER: Something that he said that he thought was enjoyable and will be charming to our viewers. We have viewers all around the world, of course.
TURNER: Well, actually, his majesty, I think, raised an eyebrow at me for the rather fulsome way in which I sang the national anthem. So that was a -- that was a moment for me.
But it was lovely to see everyone enjoying themselves. And I know the hospitality, the fanfare, but those small people moments in the next three days are what we're going to really celebrate and cherish for years to come.
TAPPER: Mr. Ambassador, thank you so much for everything. Thank you so much for this wonderful spread in the hospitality.
"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.
