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King Charles III will reflect on the “increasing pressure of conflict” around the world at a “time of great challenge” during a speech scheduled for Monday, according to multiple reports.
“We join together on this Commonwealth Day at a time of great challenge and potential,” was the first impression of the 77-year-old’s Commonwealth Day speech.
The king’s speech continued: “All over our world, communities and nations are facing the growing pressures of conflict, climate change and rapid change. Yet it is often in those testing times that the Commonwealth’s spirit of resilience is most clearly expressed.”
The speech will come just over a week after the US and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying the United Kingdom did not participate because of its national interest.
“This is not Winston Churchill we’re dealing with,” said President Donald Trump earlier this week criticizing Starmer amid a lack of support for American and Israeli military action against Iran.
King Charles III makes his Commonwealth Day speech in 2023. (Hannah McKay – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
“So, I’m not happy with the UK either,” the president said, referring to Starmer blocking the United States from using UK bases to attack Iran.
Britain has allowed the US to use its bases in the region for defensive purposes against Iranian retaliatory strikes. It also included fighter jets and plans to deploy a destroyer and possibly an aircraft carrier.
The president spoke about the Chagos Islands on Tuesday, a British territory in the Indian Ocean, saying it took “three, four days to figure out where we can get there.”
“It would have been a lot easier to get there than to fly many extra hours, so we were very surprised,” he said.
Later, the president said that the United Kingdom “has been very cooperative with this stupid island.”
“It’s a shame,” Trump said. “That country, the UK, and I love that country, I love it.”
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President Trump has criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the UK’s cooperation with the US over its military action in Iran. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
“This is not the age of Churchill,” he added.
Trump also criticized Starmer on Saturday, accusing the prime minister of joining the war after the US had “already won.”
“The United Kingdom, once our Greatest Ally, perhaps our Greatest, is finally considering sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Okay, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need any more – But we’ll remember. We don’t need people joining the Wars after we’ve won!”
Starmer defended his decision not to get involved in the conflict, saying the UK “was not involved in the first strikes against Iran, and we will not join the offensive now.”
“But when we are faced with a lot of missiles and drones in Iran, we will protect our people in the region,” said Starmer in his speech on Monday in Parliament. “President Trump expressed his disapproval of our decision not to engage in initial strikes, but it is my job to judge what is in the best interests of the British nation. That is what I have done, and I stand by it.”
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King Charles III will reflect on the “increasing pressures of conflict” around the world in a “time of great challenge” during a speech scheduled for Monday. (Andrew Matthews/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
The king and other members of the royal family will gather at Westminster Abbey on Monday for the annual Commonwealth Day celebrations, which recognize the 56 countries that have voluntarily joined the UK, most of which were part of the British Empire.
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A preview of the speech continues: “Working together, we can ensure that the Commonwealth continues to stand as a force for good – community-focused, committed to the kind of sustainability that delivers a return on investment, enriched by culture, rooted in its care for our planet, and united in friendship and service to its people.”
Charles’ speech at the abbey will also be the biggest gathering of the royal family since former Prince Andrew was arrested on February 19.
Brooke Singman of Fox News contributed to this report.
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