Tea at Trianon: State Banquet at Windsor Castle with President Trump

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Monday, September 22, 2025

State Banquet at Windsor Castle with President Trump

Britain's King Charles III (C) glances while standing beside US President Donald Trump during a State Banquet

From Hello!:

President Trump said of the special relationship, “seen from American eyes, the word special does not begin to do it justice.”
The US leader also heaped praise on the King describing his as a “very, very special man”, listing a catalogue of his passions from the environment to architecture during a banquet staged in his honour to mark Mr Trump’s second historic state visit.
The President, whose speechwriter Ross Worthington was among guests at the banquet, added: “We're joined by history and faith, by love and language and by transcendent times of culture, tradition, ancestry and destiny. We're like two notes in one chord or two verses of a poem. Pieces of the same part, each beautiful on its own, but really meant to be played together.
“The bond of kinship and identity between America and the United Kingdom is priceless, eternal. It's irreplaceable and unbreakable.”
In his own toast, the King paid tribute to the “special relationship” saying the UK and US are now the “closest of kin”. (Read more.)

From The Daily Mail:

The Princess of Wales was a vision in a couture gown by British designer Phillipa Lepley, over which she sported a full-length, hand-embroidered gold chantilly lace evening coat. She also wore earrings belonging to the late Queen and her favourite Lover’s Knot tiara.
Queen Camilla sported sapphire, from her tiara to the colour of her embroidered Fiona Clare dress.
Meanwhile, First Lady Melania Trump struck a note of modern style in an off-shoulder yellow dress with a clashing purple belt.
As the King stood to give his speech, he toasted Britain's 'remarkable bond' with the US.
In a warm and witty speech the monarch welcomed the Trumps to Windsor Castle, highlighting the two countries' 'unparalleled partnership'. (Read more.)