Royal Expert Says the Prince and Princess of Wales Should Come to the U.S., Lead \201cCharm Offensive\201d for the Monarchy

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published 3 September 2023

As their first year as Prince and Princess of Wales comes to a close this week (can you believe that?), could a “charm offensive” visit to the United States be on the agenda for William and Catherine in the coming year? The Daily Express cites a royal author as saying they could, and that the couple have the “capacity to connect” with people in a way that King Charles cannot.

Prince William puts a hand on the small of Kate Middleton's back at a gala

Back in 1965, Princess Margaret was sent stateside to dazzle, dining with President Lyndon B. Johnson and mingling with Hollywood stars. William and Catherine have visited the U.S. three times as a couple—in 2011, soon after their April 29 wedding, where they visited Los Angeles; in 2014, where they met Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and LeBron James in New York City; and in 2022, when they brought the second annual Earthshot Prize Awards to Boston. William will return to the Big Apple this month for the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit, which he was slated to attend last September but couldn’t because of the death of Queen Elizabeth. Royal author Clive Irving said that, if William and Catherine should return to the U.S., the visit won’t resemble Margaret’s over-the-top trip, documented on Netflix’s The Crown.

“You can’t imagine William and Kate having the same impact if they came to America,” Irving said. “You cannot imagine William and Kate in the White House. The whole world has moved on from that.” That said, Irving does believe the couple should shore up support for the monarchy by visiting the U.S.: “In terms of future workload, William and Kate should go on a charm offensive for the royal family,” he said. “It’s clear that William and Kate are very popular here [in the U.S.] among those who follow the royal family.”

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Irving said the Waleses are very much seen as a “progressive couple,” and that a visit from them is “much more likely to work with William and Kate than it ever is with the King.”

“I think there’s a great deal of feeling that William understands the mood and the reality on the ground far more than Charles ever will,” Irving said. “I think William and Kate do a really good job at trying to balance his [Charles’] incapacity to connect because they do have the capacity to connect. And Kate does in particular.”

Speaking on True Royalty TV’s “The Royal Beat,” royal expert Russell Myers said that William and Catherine would work in the U.S. because “I think that the markers of what makes people a success in America is loyalty to your family and dedication to your love for your country, and that’s the embodiment of these two,” he said.

Bring on any and all U.S. visits from the Prince and Princess of Wales!

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.