It was good yesterday to see UK ceremonial at its best. It was good to hear King and President united in speaking of the common heritage and shared destiny of two great nations of the English speaking world. The UK and the US have done much to promote democracy, freedom, technology and prosperity.
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September 18, 2025
In the excerpts I saw, I noticed that the incidental music was all either American or continental European. No British music at all. I would have expected our cellist King to choose more patriotically. It is not as if there have not been composers like Purcell, Parry, Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Britten and Walton composing for British Royalty. This might have been Starmer’s malign influence, of course. It certainly indicated Britain accepting an inferior status and subservience to continental Europe. I don’t know if it still does but in better days the British embassy in Paris would serve English wines. I’m sure Starmer wouldn’t dream of doing so. In warmer times Britain exported large quantities of red wine to Bordeaux. Whatever the climate activists might think, it is not as warm as it used to be.
September 18, 2025
Menus all written in French too I suppose they think is tastes better this way. Restaurants certainly seem to charge more if translated into French!
This the English version:-
Hampshire Watercress Panna Cotta with Parmesan shortbread and quail egg salad
Organic Norfolk chicken ballotine wrapped in courgettes with a thyme and savoury infused jus
Vanilla ice cream bombe with Kentish raspberry sorbet interior with lightly poached Victoria plums
Guests also had a generous wine list.
Wiston Estate, Cuvée, 2016
Domaine Bonneau de Martray, Corton-Charlemagne, Grand Cru, 2018
Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello, 2000
Pol Roger, Extra Cuvée de Réserve, 1998
After-dinner drinks were drowning in symbolism. It’s a 1945 vintage port, in honour of Trump having been the 45th US president, although he does not drink alcohol.
There was a 1912 cognac, from the birth year of the president’s Scottish-born mother. (could they not find Scottish Whisky of these dates?)
September 18, 2025
William Byrd… in fact no shortage of excellent English & British composers or food and drink.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronological_list_of_English_classical_composers
September 18, 2025
I had to make do with my Steak in pepper sauce, spinach, a roast spud, damson crumble & cream, Kirkham’s Lancashire cheese and my home grown cob-nuts. Plus a bottle of admittedly French claret! It was all delicious.
This so as power my cycle trip the next day – not very energy or CO2 efficient though despite the drivel on government web sites!
September 18, 2025
cob nuts – the blasted squirrels get ours. Try British Ivy’s cheddar, or Somerset Brie…
September 18, 2025
Ma Kirkham’s Lancashire cheese is always worth seeking out. So is Barkham Blue, although Two Hoots has handed its production to other’s.
Our cob nuts were decimated by the squirrels long before they were ready, now it’s a fight to salvage the walnuts
September 18, 2025
again we see the squirrels bringing in the neighbours green walnuts and finding places to bury in our garden.
September 18, 2025
Carol Ann Duffy writes ‘bombsite’ poem about Trump’s UK state visit in the Guardian. Not quite as annoying as the appalling Mayor of London I supose. But our “do as I say not as I do” Climate Alarmist King does rather invite such attacks. Would be better for him and the crown if he grew up, kept out of politics, smiled and cut ribbons – particularly as (on climate alarmism, homeopathy…) he is almost as deluded as Ed Miliband!
September 18, 2025
Allister Heath spot on again in the Telegraph.
Labour’s staggering incompetence is an embarrassment to Britain
Were Trump less of an Anglophile, he would be dismayed by our tragic decline and impoverishment
September 18, 2025
Trump is currently the 47th President.
I saw spite in the offering over which our King Harold sway. The music as mentioned, the menu was suitable for a lunch, not an autumn banquet. With all the British game we could have graced the beautiful table with a feast fit for a two time American President who keenly feels his Scottish roots.
We could have lauded OUR greatest achievement – our successor state – the USA.
Nevertheless, Britain is greater than Charles and his spite was thwarted by all the rest.
September 18, 2025
Haggis, neeps and tatties?
September 19, 2025
A specialist port vintner describes the 1945 as
Monumental post-war vintage. Dense, structured and age-defying.
September 18, 2025
Not much Englush even after translation. Panna cotta is Italian and Ballotine, courgettes, jus and sorbet are still French.
I suppose the Wiston Estate is near competitor to Nyetimber, which the late Queen might have served in place of the Pol Roger.
Perhaps as a teetotaller, Trump should have been offered fruit cordials made on British farms as a cordial gesture. There are some excellent ones that ignore the sugar law.
September 18, 2025
Agreed Peter – more promotion of the UK would be nice to see. I also noticed the Beeb commented that the AI deals could lift UK GDB by 10% in the long term. This substantially beats the ONS prediction of a “lost” 4% of GDB for leaving the EU (which of course didn’t happen). Why no celebration that the independence of the UK helped bring major AI investors into the country?
September 18, 2025
PeterB
I do wonder where the power to run these data hubs and the water to cool them is going to come from. I wonder if the tech companies have done any feasibility studies to answer such questions?
September 18, 2025
The 4x US costs of the electricity might bother them. As to water for cooling this is usually in closed systems so it is not really used up and the UK gets plenty of rain over the year anyway, we just need more reservoir storage.
The wasted heat could usefully be used to heat buildings.
September 18, 2025
Coastal nuclear power station and sea water for the data centre’s cooling and reactor.
September 18, 2025
Mt,
Perhaps, but that can’t be made instantly and with the nimbys, the greens and the anti nuclear brigade, planning permission will probably only be granted by the time the technology has gone out of date and moved on.
We struggle to get any major infrastructure built, whether in the national interest or not, because it gets tied down and delayed in the legal system.
September 18, 2025
The USA. Also the personnel because our education system is concocted for the least able.
Perhaps we should become the 51st State and add to America’s wealth thereby balancing it’s enormous debt?
Might be the only way we can survive, we have no political class worth the name.
September 18, 2025
@PeteB – AI in terms of the big boys are based in London as a result of three guys that met at the University College London Demis Hassabis, Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman and formed a company Deepmind. Google now owns Deepmind and is HQ in London. It’s also the reason for MS copilot being based there.
London is the based for the brains for now . The downside is AI needs massive amounts of electricity and the UK Governent has priced the UK out of the market. So there can be NO real UK based for AI
September 18, 2025
I was more interested to see the video of Elon Musk talking to the people at the march on Saturday. It was quite an eye opener. Scathing criticism of the BBC and more discussion about the suppression of free speech in this country. It is worth seeking out.
September 18, 2025
I see that the BBC has chosen this year’s Reith lecturer historian and Author Rutger Bregman.
He starts his Ted Talk with a partial and very misleading quote from Margaret Thatcher. So right on message for the BBC lefty, climate alarmist, open door to low skilled migrants, big government, pro net harm Covid “vaccines”, pro EU membership BBC propaganda unit.
Perhaps David Starkey can do some Antidote lectures to these BBC ones?
for a list the odd good one but not many recently- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reith_Lectures
September 18, 2025
I can’t see Starmer authorising Jerusalem ahead of recognising Gaza. Even if Miliband has imposed a different style of Satanic mills.
September 18, 2025
We do pomp very well.
I think it was sad that the security risk was considered too high for a carriage ride through the public streets of Windsor and the Head of State of one of our greatest allies was forced to remain within the private grounds of the Windsor Estate.
It just shows what a nasty, intolerant nation the left have turned our country in to.
I love the Red Arrows. They are always a patriotic crowd pleaser.
September 18, 2025
Agreed Cliff, we do pomp very well. Perhaps because it is managed by the monarchy and the military with minimal input from the Civil Service and Government?
September 18, 2025
Trump has been bombing a lot of people. He bombed the Houthis and they stopped firing missiles at ships transiting the Red Sea. Trump has bombed Da’esh bases in Iraq. He bombed Iran and it made a real mess of their nuclear bomb program. One of the Ayatollahs has issued a fatwa against Trump for “waging war on god”
The last thing UK/American diplomacy needs would be for POTUS Trump to be assasinated in a royal carriage on a British street by one on these malcontents
September 18, 2025
What a strange post SG
Two paragraphs that don’t make sense.
September 18, 2025
Are the red arrows not grounded until converted to run of batteries or waste cheese and wine yet – surely this has been demanded by King Charles and climate Zealot Ed?
Mad Ed is even demanding changes to gas fuelled cremation equipment! So that will further add to inflation!
September 18, 2025
We certainly do ceremonial well, shame that our armed forces have been hollowed out to such a degree that we cannot now defend ourselves militarily at all without the help of America and NATO, but then that is the purposes of alliances (if you can trust them).
Our so called (financial) soft power throughout the World has meant that we could punch above our real weight for many decades, but unfortunately we can no longer afford such luxuries abroad, as many other countries are now in a far better and more substantial financial position than we are ourselves.
Many Commonwealth Countries are also now gaining in financial power, perhaps we can only hope that some of the better and older traits of our past will allow them to continue to hold some world influence for the better.
September 18, 2025
We keep armed forces for the ceremonial.
September 18, 2025
Perhaps we could hire them out to other countries. Should be a good little earner.
September 18, 2025
Yes, the UK and the USA have done much to promote democracy, but the current President of the USA manifestly has not.
September 18, 2025
Democracy and Freedom? Really?
September 18, 2025
So wrong! Trump is a great man. Some of his actions you don’t understand are justified by threats you don’t understand. He seeks sophisticated means to resolve them rather than the usual Blair/Clinton/Obama style of brute force e with much ignorance.
Of course he is not perfect, but measure him against those we currently field. Charles owes him much is saving a lot of embarrassment for the Royal family by exposing and maybe deporting the second son.
September 18, 2025
Oh dear!
September 18, 2025
Economic threats.
September 18, 2025
Yes, a great event designed to show the UK, GB at its best. Union and US flags being flown with pride to identify those great Nations
And, the ‘Left’, the Uniparty support, UK MP’s(anti UK MP’s) representing the UK Parliament, piled into Trafalgar Square in protest at the event and flying ‘their’ Palestinian flags. The protest being permitted to those that hate the idea of a Sovereign Democracy, the one we are promised, and pursuing their wish to ‘cancel’ the World that doesn’t explicitly support their ego.
Of course, the Welsh First Minister in fall-on Marxist glory just ignored the invite and stayed away.
Hopefully one day we will get our Country back, find a Parliament and parliamentary parties that support the people, all of the people, and the nation as a whole.
September 18, 2025
Just like any president, I do not suppose Mr. Trump has many days of pure delight and enjoyment so it was nice to see the British State able to provide one. Pity about the steel tariffs, but then we are no longer steel producers really, are we?
September 18, 2025
Looking at Chequers reception it seems the US flag has been hung back to front.
September 18, 2025
I was more concerned that F35’s could not fly over Windsor Castle due to bad weather, but the red arrows in their old BAE Systems Hawk T1 jets could. Perhaps Sir John with your contacts could find out the real reason for not flying F35’s. If really was the weather then why have the RAF been equipped with F35’s to defend UK air space ?
Reply I think it was low cloud impeding people seeing them. Of course they can fly in cloud and wind. We only really saw the coloured trails from the Red Arrows which the F35 s do not have.
September 18, 2025
The pictures on TV clearly showed the actual red arrow planes could be seen not just the coloured smoke trail. They were flying below the cloud base.
It maybe that if a F35 flow at the same hight it would be too quick to see and noise level too high. They are meant to be stealthy 🙂
September 18, 2025
problems with the F35 fleet are public domain, there are plenty of ex US fighter pilots and back seaters talking people through them on YouTube
September 18, 2025
Will Starmer explain to Trump how successful his immigration policy is?
The first migrant has been sent back to France under the “one in, one out” deal struck between the UK and France, the BBC understands. The man was removed this morning and the flight has already landed in Paris.
He originated from India and departed on an Air France flight this morning.
It comes after the temporary blocking of the deportation of an Eritrean man on modern slavery grounds.
September 18, 2025
If I were a trafficker I would guarantee them one free return trip to the UK if they were sent back to France. 50 per week is probably only about 5% of the total crossings.
September 18, 2025
Trumps key comments for me were…
1 UK should instruct the military to stop the illegal immigrants arriving in boats… which is obviously what the vast majority of the UK thinks too
2 He is planning to retake Bagram airbase… as it is strategically close to China… wow just wow
September 18, 2025
Listening to Starmer is erm such erm a chore. Whenever he is asked an awkward question he erm pauses while erm trying to erm think of erm an appropriate erm response and then erm comes up with a non-answer.
September 18, 2025
Like Harold Wilson who would empty, repack the pipe, fiddle around it and find matches to light it and have a few puffs to get it going. Then he would address the question or waffle. Consumate B/S politician.
September 18, 2025
At least the King and Royal Family provide continuity, even if Starmer himself is gone in the near future. An often overlooked benefit of our monarchy that we took too much for granted under the late Queen: it builds diplomatic bridges that endure and provide openings for wider negotiations.
September 19, 2025
Angela Merkel says that all illegal immigrants should be treaty humanely.Most agree with that .We will humanely send them to a more secure place in a boat or plane ..,Not an overloaded dinghy..after reading them and giving them water to ..say Rwanda.