Critics were horrified from the start at the Starmer government dispatching the King to try to shore up transatlantic relations.
All a bit embarrassing and tawdry, they felt. Not to put too fine a point on it, they've worried the King was being pimped out like a royal escort in the knowledge that a narcissistic president would parade his trophy guest, hoping to bask in his royal limelight.
Follow the latest on the King's state visit
Trump says his love for the royal family goes back to his mother, but he also knows Americans go a bundle for a bit of royal bling, and none of this does any harm to his approval ratings, which are at a record low.
The suspicion that Trump would exploit his royal guest was rather borne out when he apparently tried to stick words into the King's mouth, saying Charles agrees with him over Iran getting the bomb.
Yes, the King delivered two very good speeches.
They appealed to Americans' better nature on NATO, security and Ukraine and gently corrected the record on Britain's commitment to the alliance.
They also sailed pretty close to the wind.
A descendant of the great tyrant King George III, as Americans remember him, King Charles schooled his hosts in the perils of excessive executive rule by one man.
It was quite a moment. Democrats got the point and erupted in appreciation. Donald Trump, who has ruled by executive fiat more than any other president, pretended not to notice.
Pointed oratory then, but two good speeches do not necessarily make a worthwhile royal visit.
The proof will be in the outcome.
King Charles was sent in the hope that his one-man soft power roadshow could improve transatlantic relations, despite the downside, which was potentially considerable.
He was, after all, hanging out with a man accused in the Epstein files of raping a woman when she was 13. The FBI took the allegations seriously enough to interview her a number of times. That is quite apart from the other tawdry tales surrounding this president, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.
The fact that the King also did not meet any of the survivors of Epstein despite their invitation will rankle with many.
So was it worth it?
On past form no.
The last Trump visit to the UK cost the taxpayer a reported £14m. The unpopular president was given a lavish welcome in Windsor Castle, ringed in high-wall security. Like The Truman Show, it was put on all for the benefit of just one man.
Government supporters and pundits applauded the visit as a masterpiece of British soft power. The palace had played a blinder.
But that has since proven premature. Relations have since only disintegrated further.
In January, the president belittled the enormous sacrifices made by British soldiers in Afghanistan, saying they stayed "a little back, a little off the front lines".
In the same month, Trump ratcheted up tariffs on the UK, threatening to revoke them only if Britain supported his hare-brained scheme to buy Greenland.
And Britain's refusal to join in with Trump's illegal war on Iran has plunged relations to a new nadir.
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King Charles is a past master at handling colourful characters and extracting the maximum soft power potential. But even he has had his work cut out salvaging anything from the steaming mess of transatlantic relations under Donald Trump.
The visit undoubtedly bolsters Britain's image and prestige among Americans generally, but was that ever in doubt? It also shores up support with the president's political opponents, useful should they ever get their acts together and their hands back on power.
But do not expect anything more than a passing sugar high in relations with the administration in Washington under this president.
Members of the RAF Regiment, using counter-drone missile systems, blasted more than 100 of the unmanned aircraft out of the sky during roughly six weeks of combat before a temporary ceasefire deal was agreed between Washington and Tehran in early April.
It is the first time the intensity of the conflict for British troops deployed to the region on defensive operations has become clear.
Sky News was given rare access to the base, which is a frontline for UK military personnel.
"I would argue this place would be a smouldering wreck if it wasn't for you guys," Alistair Carns, the armed forces minister, said during a visit to the site last week along with Air Chief Marshal Sir Harv Smyth, the head of the Royal Air Force.
The sprawling facility, which Sky News has agreed not to identify for security reasons, was one of the most targeted coalition bases across the whole of the Middle East as Iranian forces and their proxy militias in Iraq retaliated to US and Israeli bombardments.
American troops are also located at the site and contribute to its defences.
While there have been no direct hits in the past three weeks, personnel are on alert in case the fighting resumes.
Air Chief Marshal Smyth said the conflict has demonstrated the vital importance of being able to intercept drones.
He told Sky News that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is considering expanding the UK's counter-drone capability as part of a much-delayed investment plan that has yet to be published.
"Yes, that's definitely a discussion that we're having," he said in an interview.
An 'Iron Dome' for the UK?
In addition to being deployed across the Middle East, the Royal Air Force has the lead responsibility for protecting the UK's skies from drone and missile threats.
But what is known as integrated air and missile defence is expensive, and it was significantly pared back following the end of the Cold War.
Air Chief Marshal Smyth said it will be regrown - though he indicated that the scale of protection will depend on the price tag that the government is willing to pay.
The kind of "Iron Dome" that Israel has constructed to protect its people and critical infrastructure would be very costly.
Asked to give a sense of the expansion in air and missile defence that the UK needs, the head of the RAF said: "It all starts with your appetite for what you need to defend.
"If you wanted to have an equivalent of an Iron Dome over the whole of the UK, the numbers would be huge. If the discussion is around protecting key cities and key critical national infrastructure areas, then those numbers are smaller."
He said he could not reveal details about internal discussions on increasing Britain's defences against drone and missile threats.
But he said: "We do understand the task, and we do understand what the scale-up would be required, and that discussion is being had."
At the base, two members of the RAF Regiment – the air force's ground troops – shared their experiences of operating a counter-drone system called Rapid Sentry that fires four laser-guided missiles against incoming threats.
'If you're good at Xbox, this is for you'
Sitting in a cabin close to the weapon, which is situated on a mound, they use a control panel – a bit like a video game controller – to steer a munition on to a target.
The pair said being good at computer games is a handy skill for a counter-drone operator.
"I mean, with the adrenaline buzz going through it [when taking out drones for real], I probably don't have that much going through when I am playing Call Of Duty," said Air Specialist (Class 1) Durso-Colville, 22.
"But, yeah, it is all in the thumbs. It is all in the thumbs. If you are good at video games, you will probably be good at this."
His colleague, Air Specialist (Class 1) Westworth, 21, said: "It is a little bit different to the Xbox controller, but the concept is pretty much the same.
"If you are good at Xbox and PlayStation, then I think this is probably the one for you."
Both servicemen have been made "aces" because they have taken down more than five enemy drones.
The "aces" title – created during the Second World War – is more commonly associated with fighter pilots. The extension of the honour to drone combatants is an indication of the evolving character of warfare.
Mr Carns, addressing RAF Regiment personnel and other troops in a makeshift cabin on the base, said the unit's efforts are helping the whole UK armed forces to learn about drones.
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He said Russia's war in Ukraine was the first signal about the emerging importance of uncrewed systems, with the Iran conflict driving home the shift in how war is waged.
Mr Carns, a Royal Marine reservist, said: "If the teacher was Ukraine, the headmaster has just come in – Iran – and hit us with a ruler and told us to wake up, and you guys are the very cutting edge of it, above and beyond anybody else."
Coalition forces have been deployed to the base in Iraq for more than a decade to counter the threat from the Islamic State.
The Royal Commission, the nation's most powerful form of public inquiry, outlined 14 initial recommendations to help strengthen Australia's counter-terrorism capabilities following the attack at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration in December that left 15 people dead.
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government would adopt all the recommendations made by the commission, five of which remain confidential due to national security concerns.
The 154-page interim report advised expanding security protocols currently adopted during the Jewish high holy days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to other high-profile Jewish events.
Other recommendations included a comprehensive review of the country's counter-terrorism teams, involving senior government officials in counter-terrorism exercises, and accelerating efforts to implement a proposed national gun buyback plan.
The report, however, did not propose any urgent changes.
"This is as the government envisaged – that the first task of the Royal Commission, the priority, was to look at the security elements of these issues," Mr Albanese said.
Governments can 'do better'
The attack at the popular Sydney beach, allegedly perpetrated by a father and son, was the deadliest mass shooting in Australia for three decades and prompted widespread calls for enhanced measures against antisemitism and tighter firearm controls.
Mr Albanese, who faced pressure from Jewish advocacy groups and victims' families to launch the inquiry, said antisemitic incidents were happening "right around the world" and urged governments to "respond to it".
"I have said on multiple occasions governments could always do better, always do better. Social cohesion is important," he added.
A final report is due by the end of the year, while public hearings by the commission are scheduled to start next week.
Antisemitic attacks on the rise
Antisemitic attacks across the world have been on the rise since the start of the war in Gaza.
On Wednesday, two Jewish men were stabbed in the Golders Green area of London and were taken to hospital.
It follows a spate of incidents in the UK over the last few weeks, with a number of synagogues and other Jewish landmarks the target of arson attacks.
Last year, two people were killed during an attack at a synagogue in Manchester, while, in Washington, two Israeli embassy workers were shot dead as they were leaving an event at a Jewish museum.
The president posted on Truth Social he was "reviewing the possible reduction of troops [...] with a determination to be made over the next short period of time".
More than half of the just over 68,000 active-duty military personnel the US has based in Europe are in Germany, data from the US Defense Manpower Data Center shows.
It comes just days after Friedrich Merz suggested Mr Trump's team were being made to look foolish in their ceasefire negotiations with Tehran.
Iran war: Follow the latest updates
What did Merz say?
Speaking on Monday, Mr Merz suggested the US had not put enough thought into an exit strategy for the war.
"The problem with conflicts like these is always the same: it's not just about getting in; you also have to get out," the chancellor said. "We saw that all too painfully in Afghanistan, for 20 years. We saw it in Iraq."
"Especially since the Iranians are negotiating very skilfully – or rather, very skilfully not negotiating," he added.
"And then letting the Americans travel to Islamabad, only to send them back without any results. An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards."
Efforts to end the conflict since a two-week pause was declared earlier this month have hit an impasse, with both sides exchanging threats and the Strait of Hormuz still closed.
A first round of peace talks between the US and Iran, hosted by Pakistan, failed to move the needle. Mr Trump later cancelled planned trips by vice president JD Vance and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, as the Iranian side questioned whether the Americans were serious about negotiating.
Mr Trump's traditional European allies have not been shy of criticising the war, which has had a huge impact on the global economy. The price of oil hit a wartime high on Wednesday.
Angered by the lack of support, notably from the UK, Mr Trump has repeatedly lashed out – further straining relations within the NATO military alliance. Relations had already been soured by the US president's threats against Canada and Greenland and downplaying of the role of allied troops in the post-9/11 wars in the Middle East.
Mr Trump has also repeatedly said he's considering quitting NATO altogether.
Mr Merz has insisted relations with the US remain strong, but his defence officials have been discussing plans for Germany's first military strategy outside the NATO umbrella since the Second World War.
In a statement initially reported by Tehran's Tasnim News Agency, the federation said the delegation, which included its president and former member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Mehdi Taj, turned back at Toronto Pearson Airport after being subject to what it called "the unacceptable behaviour of immigration officials".
They had been travelling to Toronto with official visas to attend the FIFA Congress, a meeting of all 211 member associations ahead of this summer's tournament.
It begins on 11 June and is being co-hosted by Canada, the US and Mexico.
However, the federation claims their treatment was an "insult to one of the most honourable organs of the Iranian nation's armed forces", and the delegation "returned to Turkey on the first available flight".
Denial of entry was 'unintentional'
Anita Anand, Canada's foreign minister, later said it was her "understanding" that the officials had been denied entry, but that it had been "unintentional".
"It's not my personal lead, but my understanding is that there is a revocation of the permission. It was unintentional, but I'll leave it to the minister to indicate," Ms Anand said, in an apparent reference to immigration minister Lena Diab.
Ms Diab's press secretary, Taous Ait, said while individual cases could not be commented on, members of the IRGC – listed as a terrorist organisation in Canada since 2024 – are "inadmissible to Canada and have no place in our country".
"We have taken strong action to hold the IRGC to account and will continue to do so, while protecting the safety of Canadians and upholding the integrity of our immigration system," Ms Ait added.
The Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, a Canadian non-governmental organisation, said in a statement: "The Canadian government had granted Taj special permission to enter Canada for a FIFA event.
"He would otherwise have been inadmissible due to his affiliation with the IRGC, which Canada formally recognised as a terrorist entity."
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Last week, Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said the decision to grant Mr Taj entry in the first place "was profoundly troubling".
Mr Rubio added: "It undermines Canada's designation of the IRGC as a terrorist entity and contradicts our country's commitment to combatting impunity for serious human rights abuses in Iran."
Ongoing uncertainty
It comes amid continued uncertainty over whether Iran, who are due to play their group stage matches in the US, will participate in the 48-team competition with the conflict in the Middle East ongoing.
In March, Iran's sport minister said "under no circumstances" could the country take part, while Donald Trump insisted the team was "welcome" but their attendance was not appropriate "for their own life and safety".
A request by Iran to move their games to Mexico was then rejected by FIFA, with US special envoy Paolo Zampolli telling the Financial Times that he had asked Mr Trump and FIFA president Gianni Infantino to replace Iran with Italy - who have failed to qualify.
Mr Infantino has previously claimed Iran would "for sure" take part and an Iranian government spokesperson has confirmed the "full readiness" of the team.
Iran are scheduled to begin their World Cup campaign against New Zealand on 16 June (UK time) in Inglewood, California, before matches against Belgium at the same venue, and Egypt in Seattle.