The Royals with Roya and Kate - President Trump’s fairytale state visit and “special relationship” with the royals

Episode Date: September 19, 2025

President Trump swept into Windsor with helicopters and fanfares but what did we learn about the future of the special relationship, not just between the US and the UK but between the White House and the royals themselves? Roya and Kate separate the pageantry from the politics with CNN’s royal correspondent, Max Foster and speak to Chief Scout Dwayne Fields to find out what really went on when the First Lady met the Princess of Wales. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is truly one of the highest honours of my life, said President Trump, as he was fated at the Sumterestate State Banquet in Windsor, just around the corner from where we are now at the Guildhall in Windsor. The last 24 hours have seen stupendous levels of ceremony here at Windsor. The King has given an extraordinary welcome to the US President, and Roya and I have been here for it all. We've seen carriage rides, military parades, flypast, and of course the state banquet, a feast fit for a king,

and a president, with his entourage, which also contains some of the biggest names in tech and AI on the planet, all here to invest in the UK. The word special does not begin to do it justice, said President Trump, of the special relationship between the two countries. It really was a glittering mix of the old world and the new world with an eye on our future relationship with the UK's oldest and most powerful ally. So here on the Royals with me, Roy Nica, and me, Kate Mansi,

we're going to go behind the scenes to look at the pomp. the protocol and the politics, all the peas, of this unprecedented second state visit for President Trump. For both the King and President, this was about looking forwards, not backwards, in the two countries' special relationship. And following it all, along with Kate Nye, was CNN's London correspondent and royal correspondent and anchor. That's a title. Yeah. Max Foster. I can't make my mind up.

who has very kindly joined us here at the Guildhall in Windsor. Welcome back to see you. Do you look very at home here? We've had some sleep unlike you on the US timescale. Let's start with the speeches last night because I think there was a feeling that yesterday, everything went very well, very precisely, military, military, Marchy, Marchy.

Unbelievable. A little bit predictable and then the speeches, which possibly a little bit more unpredictable, particularly Trump's. After the King's speech, obviously he writes his speeches. It was very formal and it was all about the special relationship, quite diplomatic. And then Trump comes on, it becomes very personal, bit ad libby, but gushing, extraordinary. And not just about the moments in history, shared history, what they've got in common, the two countries, but how he just gushed about the UK. It was unbelievable and very emotional, I thought. I wasn't expecting that. We don't get anything from the White House. I didn't, in advance. I don't know if you do as a US anchor.

But obviously the palace share the speech under an embargo that the king's going to say. But it did very much feel that he could say anything when he stood up there. And there were those personal comments as well about Princess of Wales, weren't there? So radiant, so healthy, so beautiful, he said. Is that what you were expecting from what we've seen of him?

Well, I think did it go well or didn't it go well? If it was a gushing speech like that, it went well. He really packaged up. I felt he had quite cleverly packaged up the king's, all the things the king would have wanted to hear. He hailed his activism, hailed his duty. He got in there, you know, all his green campaigning, which is always something people have made about the fact that Trump and Charles might not get on. He hailed his dedication to veterans and servicemen. And then, of course, mentioned the family, his remarkable son. Obviously, no mention of the other son, Harry. It was heartfelt. I thought Charles looked quite genuinely moved by it, actually. times. He didn't need. There was an ad libby bit at the beginning where he said, oh, we've just been out there shaking hands. And Charles knew everybody's name. He knew, you know, which company they worked for. And even when they had strange company titles, he knew all of that. So it was something he'd just spotted on the way into the banquet hall, which normally these speeches are prepared and people go over them and over them. But there was that kind of ad lib. Well, it was amazing. I think that the way the King orchestrated the whole event was extraordinary the whole day. Because it was this stage work. It was unbelievable. And I think if you consider that Donald Trump came over and he wanted a certain treatment, and he got it in spades, the scale of the operation. I know you guys were part of the marching, but the size of it was just extraordinary. And it's a tighter space than if it was up at Buckingham Palace.

So it looked more extraordinary. And then bringing in the members of his family and the way he spoke about the Princess of Wales, of course. But I disagree slightly about it being forward-looking. I think what was notable was how backward-looking it was. when they looked around the royal collection, going right back to the early days of colonialism, which is a really dark part of the... Americans still have a massive issue with Republican...

The way they were suppressed. Yeah, but these were the Georgian papers, weren't they? Which apparently Trump had requested specifically to see, which is interesting in and of itself. And they showed those maps of where the revolution took place, including the Battle of Yorktown... ...the Brits were defeated. Where Britain surrendered, which is...

Obviously, he's looking ahead to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence next year at which we expect members of the Royal Family perhaps to go over to celebrate that. But it was interesting, and it was bringing up, it was dredging up quite an unfortunate moment at which George III had divorced from America.

But then speaking to how we were defeated and then moving on into the special relationship and Reagan and the Queen in the park riding their horses. I don't know. So it went through some of the greatest hits of the special relationship. Yeah, but I think wouldn't Queen Elizabeth, her whole monarchy was about rebranding from the empire. She wouldn't have necessarily dug that far into the past.

She would have focused on the really positive, more recent history. So why do you think he did that? Well, I think it was historic because when you get to the speech and you have Donald Trump talking about the revolution in the way that he did, saying what Britain gave us, Magna Carta, freedom of speech, which is a massive topical issue. It's about facing, if you've got a relationship, talking about the problems in the past, where it could not have been worse, the speeches were healing. Charles did say, in his speech, to that point,

I don't think our sort of predecessors, King Georgia Third or Washington, would have ever imagined the partnership and friendship we have now when you think about what was dredged up. But didn't Charles set that up by bringing those items out from the collection? Yes. Yeah, which were requested by Trump. And it's interesting, obviously, all this goes on, doesn't it, months before they come over.

So they all know nothing's going to surprise them, not going to spring some kind of American Revolution chat into the state visit before they knew about it. There was that letter that was displayed as well from King George III as part of the artefacts from the Royal Collection, in which he said, it was quite sanguine about it after all the anger, saying perhaps we can move forward to trade with America, which of course brings us right up to the present day. And it's interesting both of them now drawing on history. In Charles's speech. He talked about the trade deal, which is obviously ongoing Trump and the tariffs. He said, we were the first to do a deal with America. But then Charles said, we could do so much

more. No doubt there's so much more we can do, which was really intriguing because, of course, Sakeer Starmer's now sitting down with President Trump to work out what that more is, you know. We talk about this trade deal. It's just a framework deal. There's no detail to it, like real money. And then Downing Street briefing against that, we're not actually going to get it. And then Charles coming and with that giving him that little nudge into the meetings? The other nudge I thought towards the end of the speech was Charles talked about all the things that we've collaborated on over the 250 years of the special relationship. But there was a whole chunky paragraph, as you would expect from Charles,

to Donald Trump, who is widely acknowledged as a climate change skeptic by some people a denier. There was a whole paragraph on, we can do so much more in terms of clean food, clean air. There was a whole green paragraph and message to Donald Trump. and they're delivered in the beautiful setting of St. George as all. Which would have been easier to avoid, but I think Charles is so experienced in this. He would have seen how Trump responds in situations. He reacts to the people in front of him. You can pretty much put anything to him in front of him and he will respond to that and be quite positive about it. I think it felt like such a formal speech, but it was so sophisticated and it was all built up to the way Charles

built up to it during the day was extraordinary. The flattery. I mean the whole day that I thought the gifts that were exchanged were fascinating too. The gift that really struck me was, talk about laying it on with the trowel, was the union flag that flew over Buckingham Palace on the day of Trump's inauguration in January as a gift. I mean, you can imagine how he will take that back and literally or metaphorically unfurled that flag. It felt like an endorsement from the British monarchy. Yeah. How do you think that will play max to your audience, CNN in the stays? We get very caught up with what was unexpected, the scale of it and all the details, twice as many can and massive honourable. Which Trump has hammered home at every opportunity.

To the untrained eye, it looked very expected. Yeah. It was the castle. It was the cavalry. It was the bands. It was the ultimate fairy tale experience. I know that we've, there's been commentary here, there's been commentary in the US about how sanitised it felt. Because what's the point in a carriage procession if there's no members of the public?

But on another level, it was the perfect TV event. As he said, you're going to get some beautiful pictures. The Americans were watching on TV, and it was perfection. It was a show. And he does think, I think... That is how he runs his presidency too, isn't it, to a large degree. I was saying to Kate earlier, I had an insight early on. I interviewed him when he was campaigning for president the first time in Scotland,

and I was challenging him in an interview about how he's going to pay for the wall with Mexico. I kept on asking the same question. He walked out in a massive huff, walked out of the interview, was really angry about it and cursed me a bit as he walked away. Like really awkward. And I thought, this is going to be a disaster. He's going to be president and I'm going to get done. And then it went out on Wolf Blitzer's show. And I actually felt I didn't really understand that reaction because I did ask tough questions, but I thought he handled them in a tough way. He looked really strong. Do you know what I mean? It didn't quite make sense to me.

And in the evening, I had to stay over because it got so late. And I was standing in the bar, and he comes thundering up to me. I thought, I was going to have another go at me. Here we go, brace, brace. He said, great interview. I saw it on Wolf Blitzer. And then I spent the night with Jared and his family, having a lovely meal. So one thing, I will say, he's very charming face-to-face.

I don't even met him. He's really charming. And then the reality of that is that his reality, it's quite a weird way to behave with someone. You've just walked out on them. And then you go and what he wanted. But his reality was what he saw on TV. Yeah.

And I think... He is a reality TV star at the end of the day. He understands TV. And he does deal with lots of complex issues. And he's ad-libbing all the time. But I think in his head, the way he filters it all and deals with it all is how it's going to come out on TV. And America's a sound bike culture. A whole press conference, he knows the public doesn't watch all of that.

But he can find his moment and say something. He goes, that's going to be on TV. I'm not saying he says, he says, he's not saying he says, he says, he says, he's not saying he thinks that's his reality. But it's a clever way. Forwarding his own brand. He probably did the interview with you, walked off and saw it on TV and saw exactly what you said. As it was unfolding, he knew it was going to look good. That's so interesting. Talking back to the points of how do you bring up those difficult conversations with him? You've obviously had a difficult conversation with him. We heard today that the king has had a private tea with him after beating the retreat yesterday.

So we don't know yet what was in that conversation. Maybe we never will until perhaps Trump tells us about it. But in that speech, the King gave, who's talking about Ukraine as well, which is another kind of pinch point, isn't it, as to how supportive the Americans are going to be going forward and how tough they're going to be against Putin. Particularly given what we have seen with Trump and Zelensky and the King and our government's support for Zelensky,

of course we had earlier the year, those extraordinary scenes in the Oval Office of J.D. Vance and Trump, monstering Zelensky two days later very deliberately the king had met him here and there was a lot made of that a big show of support for him

this is all part of the diplomatic negotiations that are going on both at the state banquet and probably behind the scenes I'm sure at some point the king will have found a way to probably flatter Donald Trump really encouraged that you're still trying to find a peaceful solution there

but to keep it on the agenda he mentioned that in the speech didn't he about that kind of plays to Trump's idea of himself as a peacekeeper around the world. And Charles really lent into that idea. It's interesting. I'll often be on CNN talking about how the British monarch isn't a political role. Charles, as Prince, felt that he could express himself more. But as monarch, he hasn't done that.

And they will say he has got involved in Ukraine, which is a political issue in America. It's not a political issue here because broadly, if he's representing the British public and it's overwhelmingly pro-Ukraine, he's not to. taking a political position, is he? But I think Trump knew, it's on the record that Charles had that view. He just didn't want to be embarrassed about it and being challenged about it. That's what I don't know. I'm not going to have an insight into Trump's mind.

But Charles would have worked out as long as I don't challenge him on it. And the reality is America has provided most in Ukraine. You can criticize it as much as you like. It's resource the whole campaign. So there's a lot to thank America for. But the pressure now on Starma, really, can he, get something out of this because Charles has done all the work. He's done his bit. Warmed him up. The royal family have done their bit. An extraordinary way.

Yes. If Stama comes out of this with nothing, no wins, that's a fail. Yeah, exactly. Fail for UK. Yeah. Especially the security bill that we've been landed with to provide this huge show. I suppose that's why Stama wanted something in the bag to begin with, because the curtain razor before Trump flew over was this huge Microsoft deal, this idea that we're going to have what's been called a tech prosperity deal with American investment from Microsoft and NVIDIA and data centres in the UK being built.

So that's softened the blow a bit, the idea that we're going to have $30 billion investment as a result, essentially, of this visit. That's a pretty good start. Yes, it wasn't the trade deal, though, was it? No. It's just like got that sort of... But it was absolutely at the heart of the whole...

It was at the heart of last night because we are used to walking around that table preview either Bucking Palace or Windsor Castle and we go around and we look at the name places and we're like, oh, like the French one, there's Kristen Scott Thomas, there's Sirelton John, there's Mitt Jagger.

And the celebrities jump-hound. There was none of that last night. There weren't lovies. There were all the tech bros. There was Sam Alden, the head of Open AI, and the man behind ChatGBT, Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA,

Tim Cook from Apple. Satya and Adela from Microsoft. They are the celebs in terms of what Starman needs and wants in terms of inward investment here and what Trump feels he can bring. He hasn't had a relationship with Hollywood execs in the past. Certainly Democrats would have Hollywood execs in the White House all the time. And if we talk about the monarchy being something that defines us to the world, Hollywood defines America to the world, and he's redefining that as tech.

So he brings in the tech bros as his Hollywood in a way. So bringing celebrities doesn't necessarily speak to that. And they're broadly left wing, aren't they? Particularly the ones that are based here. And the ones that have moved here because they don't want to be in America because of Trump. Yeah, I mean, we weren't going to get liberal lovies around the table at the state banquet for Trump.

I think it also may, it added, people are drawn to celebrity and where was a celebrity last night? It was all in the royal family. The royal family. Yeah, it was. And that's, I mean, we've done trips to America and Canada. And when you, I remember doing a trip, the first William and Kate's first ever trip to Canada in California

and being in Canada for the first 10 days was all about monarchy and constitution and history because of course that's Canada's monarchy too. When we moved to Los Angeles to do a couple of days of engagement with them, it all became about celebrity and seeing how William and Kate were viewed as mega celebrities in Hollywood. A level above celebrity, I'd argue, because the difference between America and the UK

is that they can become head of state. Yes. We can't. Keeps the lid on us a bit. I think that speaks to our uptightness when they look at us. I do, genuinely. You can't aspire to that. You can aspire to the top office in America.

Part of that is you can be anything and do anything. But what you can't become is a member of the royal family without marrying in or being born in. And that is this unattainable celebrity. It's a level above which makes it even more enigmatic, I think. That's the fascination. There's a funny moment. We'd learned that there might have been a chance for American to become queen

because Charles brought it up in his speech, didn't he, about Nixon's daughter, Trisha. He loves that story, doesn't he. In the 1970s, he was basically set up on a date to escort her to a White House dinner. There was a Twitch, Camilla Twitch, didn't she? She smiled. Yeah, I was watching her face on the monitor. Yeah, I think that was a fun moment.

It's an awkward date that he was set up on because that means, an American eyes, imagine. Yeah. We've seen an American marry into the royal family recently didn't go quite as planned. And Sussexes haven't, you know, they don't poll particularly well in America. And I think... They don't poll well here either anymore. No. I, you know, what I think that is evidence of is something that I've noticed traveling.

The three of us have traveled with the Royals around the world, and each country's got a different relationship with them. And you've just spoken to how Canada sees them. The American fascination with royalty, for me, is not what we think it is, which is Princess Diana, Kate, Megan at the time when she was here. It was always the Queen. and this that we saw, this pomp and pageantry, the castle, and this refinement, this class, this history. And so it was always a question for me, was Donald Trump's fascination

with Queen Elizabeth II because of his heritage. And it's amazing to me that he's transferred the same adoration to Charles and now to William as well. So that's a real triumph and interesting. So it is monarchy is interested in, specifically British monarchy. because he doesn't have the same fascination or deference to the Middle Eastern Monopies. And linking the history and heritage to his own heritage. Yes. So it's history and class. And I don't know what it is specifically,

but he's fascinated by that. And America's fascinated by that. And I think the princess of this wasn't the princess of Wales's visit. But you can see how she's emerging. Because she, part of the American fascination, is they're brought up with that Hollywood culture and Disney and princesses, central to the Disney brand.

princesses. So they've got a bit of that. Kate has got that. She does epitomise the Disney princess in many ways. She definitely delivered that last night with her outfit. But combined with now, I think... Being the next queen. Reminding people of how the queen, that refinement. And I think that came through with the cancer diagnosis, refusing to respond to us, the media, as in what's going on and spending time, just stoicism that she showed with that. So I think she's got this double of having that Hollywood fascination, but also reminded the queen, which is actually the fascination, I think. That's interesting. So you're saying that the American, the fondness for the late Queen transferred onto the Princess of Wales rather than the King and the Cape Boat.

But the evidence of that is that as Megan's moved out of that, she's lost that link, I think. We talked about how you were quite surprised by how backwards into history-looking Donald Trump went with some of his references, some of the items. that were brought out of the Royal Collection. I think what was incredibly interesting with Donald Trump, and we keep seeing it, is his forward-lookingness about the special relationship and the future of the monarchy, particularly with the Prince of Wales.

I thought the staging has been very interesting in terms of William and Kate going to the helicopter to greet them. Leading that royal greeting. But it goes back to what we saw at the end of last year, which was Trump effectively summoning, requesting Prince William go to pass. Paris and represent the UK and meeting Donald Trump, not Kirstama or the King, at the Ambassador's residence in Paris, and having a very kind of long meeting with him, it went on,

and just literally saying, he's a very handsome man, he's doing a great job, he's a great guy, he laid it on thick to William. But what was more interesting about that, to me, studying Donald Trump, covering him incessantly every single day and covering his public moments, is how he sat there and William sat there. and he was waiting for William to start the conversation. Definitely don't see anywhere else. William was late to that meeting because the bad weather meant his plane was late

and they had to move that meeting with Trump. And then Trump said, I'll come to you. As I understand it. Which is extraordinary for Donald Trump. The palace and the White House had a conversation and the White House deferred to the palace. How would you want to do it? That never happens.

I've been in rooms with the White House aides and the Palisades will take precedence where the White House will say, whatever this person from the palace says will do that. I mean, that line last night in the speech from Donald Trump, which was one of the bits that went slightly off-piced, where he turned to the king and he'd paid tribute to the king and to Camilla the queen and said, and I want you have raised a remarkable son, His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, who I am sure is going to have a great success in the future. And there is this sort of feeling, and we know yesterday that obviously William and Kate also had their own private audience, their own private meeting with Donald Trump and Melania. there is this feeling that Donald Trump has a close eye on continuing that relationship, but he does seem to have a, who knows if it's two ways, a bit of a bromance with William.

He's very keen on him. But he does have an eye. I think that's what makes him so popular that he does have an eye on the future. So whenever he talks about George III and the American Revolution, it's always with a view to projecting into the future. So when he's looking at the 250th anniversary next year, if you go to that website, it's all about how the Trump administration, they're all going to make America great again.

time he raises it. It's not about backwards looking like we tend to do. And we, we honor anniversaries here in a way that they don't in America. He's always looking forward. He's always projecting forward with this vision of hope. And that's what I think has been so beguiling to American voters. And he's, it doesn't make, doesn't make me surprise that he's looking already to the next reign. Not in a disrespectful way to say that he wishes any ill of Charles, but he's got an eye always on the future. Just an understanding of monarchy, isn't it? how it works. But what are you hearing about the king going over there next year? I think someone will. One of the senior members of the Royal Family will have to. The Queen

obviously went for the 200th anniversary. And I think that they're probably due a visit. What about you? You might know better than we do. No. I haven't heard. I just think having heard Donald Trump's speech and the way he might speak next year about it, he's effectively, it felt like he was describing it as the UK handed some sort of baton over to the US. in terms of that, the legal process, the freedom of speech, all of that. And so he has to, his narrative starts with the revolution, which is a massively negative thing in American history. And he's turned it into a positive, which I found so extraordinary last night. We've talked about the sort of reception of Donald Trump within Castle Walls, the military

parades, the pomp, the pageantry, the ceremony, the flypast. But you did touch on the fact that there was this extraordinary carriage procession with just line by military, not a single member of the public. There is no public access to Donald Trump at any point during this two-day state visit. The only thing you would have seen was that the red arrows going across because the fighter jets had to be. But we have had these huge protests in London.

Yes. So can you just talk a little bit about, do we only get the state visit with Trump if that's the way it's done? I think the palace, in my understanding from the palace, it was a security, purely a security issue. And this was before Charlie Kirk. I don't know. it certainly saved him from embarrassment, didn't it, by doing it that way.

And certainly increased security, presumably. And I mean, when he landed in that field, in the wall garden at Victoria House within the Windsor estate, they'd never had a helicopter land there before. And there were three helicopters land, the last of which was carrying Donald Trump and Melania. And the other two had reams of aides and staff and special security and things like that. It was quite something that when the show that he brought to take. I couldn't have had the carriage in Windsor because it wouldn't have been secure enough.

No. So it would have been the beast. One egg. Would destabilise the whole state of it? Yes. And if I put myself in the other... The host nation, you wouldn't want that. Into the organiser's point of view, you wouldn't have done it

because particularly based on what happened the night before with a projection onto the palace of the Epstein images. Of course. Because that was... Images of Jeffrey Epstein and President Trump projected onto the castle walls, just as Donald Trump. utterly viral in America.

And let's not forget, the US ambassador from the UK, Peter Mandelson, has just had to step down. He was due to be at the banquet. I just think that that negativity did play well on social and an egg would have done. So it was the right decision. I don't understand from our point of view, it was the right decision to keep it perfect and this television spectacular. And can you tell me about Melania and the role you think she played in all this? There's a different tone to Donald Trump when he's with Melania.

We don't see her often. Is he on better behaviour with her? Yeah. Really? Yeah. Do you think he's a bit scared of her? No, I think he respects her. He wants, she is, and we talk about deference and how he defers to the royal family.

Obviously, he defers to her as well. So you see it. And she has to be looked after. And again, the king saw that. She wasn't, it didn't feel like she was accompanying the president. It felt like she was just as important. She's had her own moments. Yeah.

Today we've seen her, haven't we? With the Queen and Princess of Wales. If she was happy, he would be really happy. So I just think it all speaks to the same thing. That worked incredibly well. And for the Queen to have given her this tour, and then the Princess of Wales adding to it, which was really, it looked a bit chaotic the Scouts thing,

but it was genius, wasn't it? Because it gave them something to do and this interaction with the children. They're both so good with children. The princess showed off all her interests in one go to Melania, the outdoors, the kids, the art. It was just genius. We've got casual Melania too as well, which I love in flat shoes.

She seemed really happy today. She's an enigma. She seemed much more relaxed today. They give very little access to her. This was the Princess of Melania Trump's first official joint engagement, the Princess of Wales and the First Lady. And now we are joined by Dwayne Fields, who was there. Tell us how you got to be there, your Chief Scout.

Well, first of all, I am so honoured to have been elected as Chief Scout. It happened about a year ago. In fact, this month a year ago. And what does that mean, Chiefs? Does that mean? It's a position that Bear Grills held for the second longest time in history. The previous person that held it was Baden Powell, who held it for, I think it was 38 years. Who founded the Scouts.

Don't quote me on that number. I'm probably wrong. But what it means is I'm an ambassador to Scouting. I'm here to say thank you to every single one of our volunteers. I am a figurehead for the Scout movement. I'm somebody who was in the Scout. So to leave the movement, go away, live life, come back as an ambassador, which is something that I did for almost seven and a half years prior to being Chief Scout.

So for me, today was an absolute, it was a standout moment. Having our joint president, the Princess of Wales, the first female joint president in history, alongside the First Lady of the US, was a great thing. You did, you had some, as Matt was saying, some remarkably well-behaved, very young I'm joking there today. Tell us a little bit about who they were, what program they're on, and what they all got up to with Melania and the Princess.

Brilliant. So with our youngest section, Scouts is a section, Cub, beavers, squirrel, they're all sections. Squirrels start at about, at four up until the age of six. They're the Littlies, aren't they? Today was slightly different, but even though we're in a different location and meeting people like the First Lady, like the Princess of Wales, we still treated it just like any other meat. Do you think the children knew who Manania Trump was? I can tell you now, one young person, I know many of them knew that the princess would be there.

Initially, the first lady conversation wasn't something that they really picked up on as being important. But I remember one young person in particular asking Mrs. Trump, are you the next princess? And that tells you all the words. Her reply, she handled it amazingly well. She looked over at the princess of Wales and said, no, no, no, she's the only princess hair. And jokingly, I looked around and said, what about me? But I can tell you now, the Princess of Wales then replied saying, hey, actually, this is a very important lady.

She comes. She's the first lady of the United States. And I took the opportunity to speak to the young people and say, actually, we can learn a lot about where the first lady comes from in one of our meets. So that's something. What did she learn from it, do you think, first lady? I can tell you what she got from it. She got lots of artworks and she created herself,

some she was assisted with by the young people. and also she had the moment to reflect. It was a nice informal bit as well to the state of visit, wasn't it? It was. We've had banquets and glittering candelabra and all that, and this was you and the first lady. I think this was something that really resonated with the First Lady. While she was doing some of her artwork with the support and help of the young people,

she made a comment about being young, remembering doing this when she was younger. And I think it took her back to a really nice place. I'd also say, scouts the moment you walk into a scout group doesn't matter who you are you could be the chief scout you could be a volunteer from another group you're all the same and it was really beautiful

to see the princess of wells and milania and our young people and our amazing volunteers all just taking part it really was heartwarming to see and i think they got a lot out of it as well i think the princess of wells obviously shares your enthusiasm for scouts doesn't she and obviously that's why she's become patron tell us about your relationship with Princess of Wales because there was that fantastic video that we saw a few months ago where she actually went to spent, I understand, quite a few hours, actually away from the cameras. There was a little video that came out afterwards. Tell us about that day and you were there.

Yes. What's your relationship with her like? Well, I can tell you now, she is an amazing asset to the Scout movement. I think she's a wonderful person. She's a very warm and inviting person. To spend time outdoors is a place that she enjoys. It's a place where she slows down, where the cameras, the lights, the attention isn't there. It's very much a personal moment. It's a personal time. And I think also spending time in the outdoors reminds her a lot of her earlier years, spending time with her father, which is something that we spoke about. Before life.

I spoke about her father. What does she say about her father? The thing that I can share with you is that we spoke about how important it was that as an adult, as a caregiver, as a responsible person, you take your young. young people, young person out into the outdoors, into the natural world. And that's something that she feels she benefited from. She's talked a lot about that in the past in terms of her upbringing, being outside a lot. She's also talked a lot about, and linked it to the scouts and being co-president. She's talked a lot about the importance of the outdoors and nature in terms of her cancer recovery.

And her spiritual connection. In terms of her cancer recovery and it helping her with her recovery. And that's something I think she is, we're hearing more and more from her on that. We're definitely hearing more and more of that from the Princess of Wales, excuse me, but we're also hearing that from young people generally. There were countless studies that when asked, young people reply that after spending a significant amount of time outdoors, they feel better within themselves.

They feel mentally more able to cope with other things. So I just want to ask what the chemistry was like between the two. It was brilliant. Between the Princess and the First Lady, the chemistry is wonderful. It was really warm. They had lots to talk about beforehand. And they had even more to talk about when they left because as they were leaving, they were remarking about the things that they'd seen, the things that they'd done,

some of the artwork they'd produced, some of the bug hotels they'd made and conversations they'd had. I think they had a really nice experience. There was a lot of honey around. We told the Princess of Wales have made the packed lunches herself for the children. I can't comment on who made them. Royal honey vases White House honey. I can tell you. What I can tell you is I'm hearing lots and lots about honey sandwiches.

The sandwiches were delicious. I can't tell you what was in the sandwiches. I don't know. I just know they were absolutely delicious. We were told there was honey made by the princess herself at Anne Mahal, then, Norfolk. I would not be surprised because the princess is very hands-on. She does love nature. She does love our natural spaces.

And if she were to don a beekeeper's outfit and saw some honey, I really would not be surprised. And Melania had bought some White House honey along too. I can tell you that Melania did. Which was Bella. Let's put Dwayne on the sport. I'm going to say that the honey that this is brought to us from the US

was a gift to the scouts and it was well received. That you are such a diplomat. This is great. This is why your ambassador to America. This is why you're part of the state visit. I'm only answering your questions. Dwayne for ambassador.

I don't think I've got the smart. Well handled, Dwayne. From what I've seen, I wouldn't be surprised if they were to go away and collaborate on something in the. US. I'd love to see the squirrels sections exported to the US as well. I'd absolutely love to see it. And again, I keep saying I wouldn't be surprised. I'm not sure what their equivalent is, but I wouldn't be surprised if Mrs. Trump goes back and talks about what she's seen, what she experienced and

what she saw others experiencing and gaining from the squirrels. We saw at the French state visit, when the outward one, when we went to France a couple of years ago, the Queen and Brigitte Macron launched a literary prize together in Paris. So there is precedent here. for links, joint initiatives between members of the royal family and political first ladies. The first lady speak to how she felt the overall trip has gone for her. Well, that was one of the first questions I asked to Mrs. Trump. I said, you know, how's your trip? And she said, it's been amazing.

And my comment back was, I'm hoping that we can top it off. Did I see you take off your next to give it to her? Just as Mrs. Trump was leaving, we mentioned, we spoke about the honey. And I said, I'm really sorry, I didn't have any honey ready for. or anything to give you, but I'd really love to give you a symbol of the UK Scouts and our gratitude for you visiting us. And I took my Chief Scout Necker, which is tied in a friendship knot, and I gave it to her and she received it. I did say last week I wanted to see the first lady in a neckerchief, Scouts neckerchief. Dwayne, you delivered. For you. Thank you. That's this new special

relationship. Yeah. The Scouts and the first lady. It's a natural combo. Two of our young people, I asked them to do a very special favour for me. I asked them if they would hand a squirrel badge patch to one to the joint president, Princess of Wales and one to the First Lady. And in doing so, I think she became an honorary squirrel. And you'll know it's there's a left-handed handshake at the end of it. So she is a squirrel?

She is now. I mean, is it within my power to... Yes, your Chief Scout. Yeah. She's now an honorary squirrel. Great. Fabulous. Well done.

It's not an exclusive. Exclusive. I'll have that. I'll take it. Honorary squirrel. There you go. Well, well done. Sounds like a great visit.

Thank you so much for joining us, Dway. What a brilliant way to end the royal visit, because that was the last kind of royal engagement, wasn't it? Yeah. So the four of us, in our different ways, have been witnesses, or in your case, Dwayne, a participant, to what the king himself has described

as a unique event here at Windsor. As we recall this, President Trump has left Windsor Castle for Chequers, the Country House of British Prime Ministers, where he's meeting Kirstama, and a lot of press. He might have a slightly trickier time there. That's where the politics begins. Or did the politics begin here at the castle with all the pomp ceremony, conversation and the extraordinary attention and apparent affection the royal family has shown the president. From banquets and flypast to politics and pageantry, Windsor and President Trump have given us and the world plenty to talk about.

And there's more to come, I'm sure. Thank you for joining us, Max. Really appreciate it. Thank you for having me. London correspondent of the American Network CNN. And thanks also to Dwayne Fields, chief scout of the Scout Association, who kindly today escorted us through his visit with the Princess of Wales and the First Lady Melania Trump

and then came to join us. Can I just ask quickly before we go? Let's have a little group reflection. What's your standout moment of the state visit bin, Dwayne, probably said you're going to say something to do with the squirrels, aren't you? There was a moment where one squirrel asked the first lady if she was the next princess.

And it was an enjoying moment because between the first lady, Princess Kate, myself, and some of the others around, it was a really joyful moment. And the responses were amazing. What about you, Matt? I think it was Trump's speech

just because it could have gone either way. And it was, I'm a Brit. It was a great show. I think the monarchy did surpass themselves. And he was so gushing. And it was a proud British moment, actually. For me, you used to, to the kind of pomp and pageantry that we lay on here.

It was the Trump showed that it was what they brought to town. So it was those three huge helicopters landing in the field behind pretty small Victoria House in the back of the Windsor Castle Gardens essentially and just the show that the Americans brought with them. It was, that was dazzling in and of itself. But what about you, Boyer? What stands up for you? I think it's been watching Donald Trump

and how grateful he is for this visit. Thank you. Watching him do the honour guard, inspect the honour guard with Charles yesterday, he came towards us at the end, stopped and talked to the king and the main sort of soldier overseeing it and said thank you about four times. And then when I was watching the beating retreat ceremony on the east lawn, at the end of it, the king led him up the eastern terrace steps, but he stopped again to talk to the sort of senior soldier overseeing it and said, thank you, it was beautiful, thank you. He's just very pleased to be here. And I suppose whether the question will be now, will he put his money where his mouth? his, show his gratitude with new deals, signing. Where's the cash?

Show us the money, Donald. We know you're grateful, but show us the money. It's up to Sir Kirstarmona, you know, the royal family have done their bit. Close the deal. Close the deal, the deal. As President Trump told the king, we are like two notes in the same chord and each beautiful on their own, but really meant to be played together. Poetry.

Thanks for joining us and soft music. And thanks for listening. Bye, Roya. Bye, Kate.