King Charles and Congress clearly know what the Magna Carta is, but has the US president read it?

After what has been several months of dangerously deteriorating relations between Britain and the United States, a lot was hanging on this week’s visit of King Charles III. When it was originally planned it was intended to reflect the unanimity of our two nations across a whole range of political and economic issues, but President Donald Trump’s decision to take military action towards Iran – and the diplomatic consequences of Britain’s reluctance to get involved directly in the joint US-Israeli war – made the Royal visit less of a relaxed celebration and far more of a desperate rescue mission.

Beyond the banquets and the ceremonial occasions, it was the King’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday afternoon that had everyone holding their breath – not least because a charm offensive and gentle humour was promised and no-one was quite sure how that was going to play out.

Preparing such a critically important speech would never be left to the King alone, and many hands would have worked to craft a text that on the one hand enabled the monarch to flex his warm personality and wry humour, but equally ensured that the requirements of Buckingham Palace, Downing Street and the Foreign Office were in lockstep in the final version. It is said that the king scrutinised each printed draft, marking suggestions by hand in red ink – and changes were being made right up to the morning of the delivery to Congress.

Donald Trump called the speech “fantastic”, which is one of the standard – but frustratingly vague – adjectives the current US president favours – like “bad”, “terrific”, “incredible”, “greatest” and “beautiful.” Beaming smiles and warm appreciation it may have been this week, but few have any doubt that Trump will go back to being Trump next week.

What might change, however, is how other US legislators react – after all, for all it’s humour and camaraderie, the King’s address was not without its barbs, and it was these that garnered some of the most enthusiastic applause – especially when Charles referenced Magna Carta and the principle of “checks and balances” to a roomful of legislators who are becoming rattled by a president who seems to be increasingly acting of his own volition on the global stage.

Commentators here in the UK were swift to play down the King’s observations in this context, less the emphasis cause more diplomatic damage than good. Jonathan Dimbleby, the king’s biographer and close friend, said the address may have contained an “implied rebuke to Trumpery” but there was equally an “eloquent plea” to remember democracy. Lord Darroch, former UK ambassador to the US, reversed the order, telling the BBC’s Newsnight programme he thought the speech was “brave and bold and actually really excellent”, but that equally “it was full of implied rebuke.”

Due note was also made of the King’s comments about the centrality of his Christian faith in a particularly welcome moment that contrasted with some perceptions that King Charles has sought to shift his position from the exclusively Christian certainties of his late mother, to a rather broader connection with the general concept of spirituality and religious adherence.

“Mr Speaker, for many here and for myself, the Christian faith is a firm anchor and daily inspiration that guides us not only personally, but together as members of our community,” the King told Congress.

“Having devoted a large part of my life to interfaith relationships and greater understanding, it is that faith in the triumph of light over darkness which I have found confirmed countless times. Through it I am inspired by the profound respect that develops as people of different faiths grow in their understanding of each other.”

His comments were met with a large and extended round of applause, and he then went on.

“It is why it is my hope, my prayer, that in these turbulent times, working together and with our international partners, we can stem the beating of ploughshares into swords,” he said.

“I am mindful that we are still in the season of Easter, the season that most strengthens my hope. It is why I believe, with all my heart, that the essence of our two nations is a generosity of spirit and a duty to foster compassion, to promote peace, to deepen mutual understanding and to value all people, of all faiths, and of none.”

Perhaps the comments that attracted the most attention – and appreciation – were the King’s repeated references to the Magna Carta, the medieval English charter drafted in 1215 that laid the foundations for the modern rule of law and that established for the first time that the monarch was not above the law. His observation that the charter was the very “foundation of the principal that executive power is subject to checks and balances” naturally brought the intended standing ovation – not just because of the US legislature’s concerns about the current president, but because the Magna Carta is so deeply linked to the development of the American rule of law.

It’s ironic that only four of the charter’s original 60 clauses are still operative under UK law, but the entire text has been incorporated into the statute books of no less than 17 US states and images of King John presenting Magna Carta to his barons are carved or painted in many state capitols or court houses, including on the vast bronze doors of the Supreme Court building in Washington.

But the bonds that the Magna Carta has sealed between Britain and the US go even deeper. In 1965 an acre of Runnymede, Surrey was granted to the American people in perpetuity – in eternal honour of a shared respect for the principle of liberty, but also as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy who had been assassinated in 1963. On 14 May 1965, King Charles’ late mother, Queen Elizabeth II was joined by President Kennedy’s widow, Jackie, and their two children to inaugurate the stone memorial and to formally bequeath the acre of land.

(Although it attracted little mention at the time, it is said that the small hawthorn tree that was planted alongside the memorial stone was placed to reflect (via the legend of Joseph of Arimathea bringing the hawthorn to Britain) President Kennedy’s Catholicism, which was a defining aspect of his public and private life, as well as his political identity. In fact the whole memorial has a Christian significance, being themed around The Pilgrim’s Progress to represent a journey.)

The words on the memorial are taken from President Kennedy’s inaugural address of 20th January 1961: “Let every Nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend or oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and success of liberty.”

It’s not known what the current US president thinks of the Magna Carta and it’s long and meaningful association with the United States and the development of its legislative processes, but there are more than a few people who think that Mr Trump would probably have torched it if it came up for consideration today. One only has to look at the recent administration’s focus on deportations to see that there seems to be little consideration for democratic and individual rights and the protection of the person against the actions of the state. As far back as last May, White House deputy chief of Staff Stephen Miller was intimating that the Trump administration was “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus – the right of a person to contest in the courts their false imprisonment.

In what is known in American law as “The Great Writ”, the US Constitution specifies that the right of habeas corpus “shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.” And it’s one of the oldest rights in the Anglo-American common-law tradition that even pre-dates the Magna Carta. In the past 12 months alone President Trump issued a flurry of executive orders seeking to invoke the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) and Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to enable him to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, though thankfully many of these orders were shot down by the judiciary, who argued rightly that the US was neither experiencing a rebellion nor an invasion – though of course the president believes strongly that an invasion is exactly what America is experiencing!

For his part, US-born Pope Leo XIV made it one of his first priorities to point out that the present US administration’s actions against immigrants not only defiled the US constitution and the principles inspired by the Magna Carta, but the very foundations of humanity itself. In fact he made specific reference to this just yesterday, in a press conference following his return from his four-nation Africa tour.

Leo, who has previously attacked President Trump’s hardline immigration policies, said that migrants are “are human beings, and we have to treat human beings in a humanitarian way and not treat them worse … than house pets or animals.”

Without referring to the USA in particular Leo said that countries have a right to control their borders, but urged richer nations to help develop the countries that migrants are leaving, so they do not feel the need to leave.

What are richer countries doing to change the situation for poorer countries?” he asked. “And why can’t we seek … to change the situations in [those] countries?”

On May 8th Leo will have been pontiff for just a year, but already he’s been able to exercise considerable diplomatic impact on issues of vital global importance. As someone who has an intimate understanding of the USA and its relationship with migrant communities his voice carries significance and influence. This may not sit well with Donald Trump, but it’s something the US president is going to have to get used to, and with increasing volume.

To everyone’s best knowledge Robert Francis Prevost has never referenced the Magna Carta, but he’s clearly a man who understands and respects its core principles. Mr Trump is hearing the document mentioned ever more frequently, but one gets the clear sense that he has still yet to read it.

Joseph Kelly is a Catholic writer and public theologian

Pic: Little Caroline Kennedy (7) sheds a tear as she sits behind and between mother Mrs Jacqueline Kennedy and Queen Elizabeth II when the latter inaugurated the British memorial to the late President John F Kennedy at Runnymede, Surrey. Also present was Mrs Kennedy’s son John (4) and the late President’s brothers Senators Robert and Edward Kennedy. 14th May 1965.