How King Charles’s speech was written – and how to read it

JD Vance and the House speaker, Mike Johnson, applaud as Charles addresses a joint session of Congress. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/PA

Donald Trump called it “fantastic”, Democrats cheered references to Magna Carta, while the joint session of the US Congress came together in giving it a standing ovation.

King Charles’s address to US lawmakers, while non-political, did not shy away from politics. And, though the president did not take offence – “He made a great speech, I was very jealous” – its pointed mentions of subjects the US president has previously disparaged were not lost on America.