King Charles met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, under the shadow of inflammatory statements made about Canada by US President Donald Trump.
Trump has repeatedly spoken of making the neighbouring country the 51st state of America. He has also vowed to impose new import taxes on Canada, which is one of his top trading partners.
Speaking ahead of his meeting with the King at Sandringham, outgoing PM Trudeau said he would discuss issues of importance to Canadians, including “standing up for our sovereignty and our independence as a nation”.
The King has also extended an invitation to Trump to visit him in what will be an unprecedented second state visit.
As head of state of the Commonwealth nation, the King has faced calls to give Canada his vocal backing in the face of Trump’s statements.
But Charles faced a difficult tightrope to walk, the former leader of the Canadian province of Alberta suggested.
Writing on X, Jason Kenney said the King could only act on the advice of the Canadian PM, who “should ask [Charles] to underscore Canadian sovereignty”.
New import taxes announced by Trump are also set to come into effect on Tuesday, targeting goods arriving from China and Mexico as well as Canada.
The president is eager to protect American manufacturing and jobs, and to address the US trade deficit.
He suggested in a post on his Truth Social platform on Sunday that his country was effectively subsidising Canada by paying to import its products. Without this flow of capital, Canada “ceases to exist as a viable country”, he wrote.
Trump has previously spoken of using “economic force” to make Canada the 51st state of America. But he said he was not considering using military force – an assurance he has not given while stating his ambitions of taking the Panama Canal and Greenland.
The question of how to respond to Trump’s tariff threats and other statements about Canadian sovereignty has dominated the debate in Trudeau’s Liberal Party, with candidates vying to replace the PM after he announced his resignation in January.
On the other side of the Canadian political divide, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has also attacked Trump’s statements.
The King has found himself at the centre of a recent whirlwind of diplomatic meetings following Trump’s return to the presidency – some of which relate to the war in Ukraine.
On Sunday, he also met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – who ended up in a row of his own with Trump at the White House on Friday.
Zelensky was in the UK to meet European leaders, who reiterated their support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia – with American support apparently on the wane under Trump.
By BBC News
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