King Charles presented US President Donald Trump with a bell from the Second World War submarine HMS Trump during his state visit on Tuesday. The British monarch, joined by Queen Camilla, is on a four-day visit to the United States to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence and mend the UK’s frayed relationship with the US.
Calling for the restoration of the Anglo-American alliance, King Charles delivered a 20-minute speech that British commentators described as more political than expected and more personal than his historic address to Congress. He marked the moment with a symbolic naval gift.
Everything you need to know about the historic bell
The historic bell from a WW2 British Royal Navy submarine is about 8 decades old. Based on HMS Trump’s (P333) launch date of 25 March 1944, the bell is approximately 82 years old as of April 2026. Work on the submarine began in late 1942 and was completed in 1944. The British T-class flagged Barrow HMS Trump was the third submarine of the P333 group. The bell was part of the last RN submarine to be stationed in Australia in January 1969.
King Charles tries to mend an estranged relationship
The 77-year-old moved to highlight the shared history and talk of continued strategic cooperation with Washington. In a speech in Washington DC, King Charles said the United States and the United Kingdom are bound by an “indispensable alliance that has long been a cornerstone of prosperity and security for both British and American citizens,” GB News reported.
King Charles identified defense cooperation and intelligence sharing as key pillars of the relationship and not only highlighted the Aukus defense pact with Australia as an example of modern security cooperation, but also touched on the recent shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in which one Secret Service officer was injured. He praised the response of US security services and praised Trump’s “courage and steadfastness”.
During his toast at a state dinner at the White House, King Charles said the American character had long been defined by “courage, tenacity and a spirit of adventure”, noting that the two nations had “traded, innovated and created together” across generations and “stood together in the best of times and the worst of times”.
Indicating that both countries now face challenges that require renewed cooperation in an uncertain global climate, he added: “These challenges encourage us tonight to reaffirm the foundation on which our partnership was built.”
The Washington DC dinner guest list included golf ace Rory McIlroy, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos and Apple boss Tim Cook. The couple received a warm greeting from President and First Lady Melania Trump upon their arrival at the White House on April 28.
In his welcoming remarks, Trump emphasized the shared history between the two countries, saying, “American patriots today can sing, ‘My country, ’tis of the you, sweet land of liberty,’ only because our colonial forefathers first sang ‘God Save the King,'” the AP reported.
