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French president Emmanuel Macron has jokingly suggested it would be “chic” if Americans were speaking French following a quip from King Charles at the state dinner.

The British monarch joked on Tuesday evening that if it were not for the UK, the US would be speaking French.

“You recently commented, Mr President, that if it were not for the United States, European countries would be speaking German,” he said. “Dare I say that if it wasn’t for us, you’d be speaking French?”

In a response on X, President Macron said: “That would be chic!”

King Charles and Queen Camilla will cap their historic US tour with a final stop in Virginia on Thursday after a packed day in New York City.

On their final day, the royals are set to attend a party marking the 250th anniversary of American independence, meet members of indigenous communities and discuss climate change projects, according to US media.

The King will then travel to Bermuda, making his first visit as monarch to a British overseas territory.

On Wednesday, Charles and Camilla visited the 9/11 memorial in New York City, where they laid a bouquet of white flowers at the memorial pool.

Camilla tells US to ‘keep reading’

Queen Camilla’s message to America is to “keep reading”.

“I think it’s very important, and statistics are showing that reading is falling in children,” she told Jenna Bush Hager, George Bush’s daughter.

“We’ve got to find a way of bringing it up.”

In an interview with Today, Camilla, who started charity ‘The Queen’s Reading Room’ during the Covid pandemic, reflected on how she got her love of reading from her father.

”He was wonderful,” she said. “He used to sit at the end of our beds every night and read us these incredibly exciting stories, some of them quite frightening, pillows over our head, but he just gave us this incredible interest.

“As many of us have long suspected, books really are good for us. They also have a magical way of bringing people together with their ability to transcend any barrier.”

Harriette Boucher30 April 2026 14:52

State visit has been ‘good fun’ but has ‘moved quite fast’, Camilla says

Queen Camilla said her four-day visit to America has been “good fun”, but a bit of a whirlwind.

“It’s been really good fun, but we have moved quite fast.

“It’s been wonderful, and everybody’s been very kind and welcoming,” she told Today.

“It’s been whistle stop.

“It’s always a pleasure to be here. It’s always lovely to be back in New York again.”

The Queen is due to leave the US on Thursday evening as the King heads to Bermuda.

Harriette Boucher30 April 2026 14:41

Five key takeaways from King Charles’s historic US Congress speech

King Charles III centred transatlantic harmony in his historic speech to both houses of Congress, receiving multiple standing ovations and a rapturous response.

He became the second monarch, after his mother Queen Elizabeth II, to stand and speak in front of representatives in the iconic US Capitol Building. The King is currently visiting Washington DC on a four-day state visit that many hope will appease US president Donald Trump, as relations with the UK are currently in a difficult place.

The parallels between the two speeches, 35 years apart, were notable. When the late Queen gave her speech in 1991, Republican George HW Bush was president and Conservative John Major was prime minister, and the two nations grappled with the Gulf War and the pending dissolution of the Soviet Union. Spectators at the time reflected on the late Queen’s sense of humour, her focus on the “special relationship” and calls for transatlantic cooperation.

As Charles stood where his mother had, instability in the Middle East and eastern Europe remains just as prevalent, and the themes of his speech were much the same, as he referred to the importance of Nato and the interlinked destinies of the UK and US.

Here are the key takeaways from his speech:

Harriette Boucher30 April 2026 14:20

Macron responds to ‘speaking French’ jibe at Trump ahead of final day of tourMacron responds to ‘speaking French’ jibe at Trump ahead of final day of tour

Harriette Boucher30 April 2026 14:00

Five of the King’s best jokes to US Congress and state dinner

King Charles charmed the US congress and state dinner guests with his witty remarks and light-hearted jibes on Tuesday. Here were five of the best joke:

With reference to the upcoming 250th anniversary of US independence from Great Britain on July 4, the King assured Congress that he was “not here as part of some cunning rearguard action”, which drew a laugh from congressional members.

He said: “King George never set foot in America and, please rest assured, I am not here as part of some cunning rearguard action.”

A ‘tale of two Georges’

The King then remarked on the similarity between a novel by Charles Dickens, A Tale Of Two Cities, and America’s independence from Great Britain in 1776.

Charles said: “This is a city which symbolises a period in our shared history, or what Charles Dickens might have called ‘A Tale Of Two Georges’: the first President, George Washington, and my five-times Great Grandfather, King George III.”

Charles also recited Oscar Wilde’s remark on the differences in the US and UK’s vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation whilst acknowledging the cultural similarities between the two nations.

The King said: “As Oscar Wilde said, ‘We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language’.”

The King continued by comparing the US’s comparatively short existence as an independent nation when put up against Britain.

He said: “The Founding Fathers were bold and imaginative rebels with a cause.

“250 years ago, or, as we say in the United Kingdom ‘just the other day’, they declared Independence.”

UK Parliamentary traditions

After a fiery relationship between a previous King Charles and his parliament, an MP is still “held hostage” at Buckingham Palace during The King’s annual speech to the Houses of Parliament.

The tradition takes place in commemoration of the famous gunpowder plot of 1605 and Guy Fawkes’ unsuccessful attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament and with it the King James I.

A “hostage” MP was first carried out under the reign of Charles I to ensure the Sovereign’s safe return from the Palace of Westminster.

Harriette Boucher30 April 2026 13:40

How will the King conclude his historic state visit to the US?

King Charles will end his four-day visit to the US with a ​formal farewell from the president and first lady.

He will then lay a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River in Virginia, where tens of thousands of ​the country’s war dead are buried, as well as ⁠two presidents and some former Supreme Court justices.

The King is then set to fly to ‌Bermuda ⁠on Thursday evening, while the Queen heads back to Britain.

Harriette Boucher30 April 2026 13:20

Camilla not going to Bermuda, palace confirms

Queen Camilla will head back to Britain at the end of the four-day visit to the US, while King Charles makes his first visit as monarch to Bermuda.

The Buckingham Palace confirmed today that Camilla would not be joining the King.

The King’s trip will mark the King’s first visit as monarch to a UK Overseas Territory.

Andrew Murdoch, the UK-appointed Governor of Bermuda, described it as “an opportunity to celebrate” Bermudians and “strengthen the UK’s modern partnership with Bermuda”.

Harriette Boucher30 April 2026 13:04

Charles and Camilla’s state visit in pictures(AFP/Getty)(Reuters)(PA)(Getty)

Harriette Boucher30 April 2026 12:48

NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani says he would ask King Charles to return Kohinoor diamond to IndiaNYC mayor Zohran Mamdani says he would ask King Charles to return Kohinoor diamond to India

Harriette Boucher30 April 2026 12:45

Queen reunites Winnie-the-Pooh with long lost friend

The Queen has replaced a stuffed toy missing from the collection that inspired the Winnie-the-Pooh stories during her visit to New York Public Library.

On Wednesday, Camilla gifted the library a specially-made Roo to replace the one lost in the 1930s.

The collection, which includes Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, and Kanga, originally belonged to AA Milne’s son.

“As we mark the 100th anniversary of the beloved Winnie-the-Pooh stories, The Queen has presented a very special gift to the New York Public Library, reuniting baby Roo with his friends from the 100 Acre Wood.

“The Library is home to the original collection of toys owned by Christopher Robin Milne, son of A.A. Milne, which inspired the characters in the beloved Winnie-the-Pooh series. The collection is missing Roo, the baby kangaroo who was lost in an orchard in the 1930s.”

Harriette Boucher30 April 2026 12:40