The British media, the British government and British monarchy all had to eat humble pie on Monday when President Joe Biden had a day-long stopover in the UK. They had been seething about Irish Joe for months, crying salty tears about Biden’s age, his unwillingness to attend the coronation, his love of Ireland and his prioritization of the EU (over the Brexit shenanigans). But at the end of the day, both Rishi Sunak and King Charles got their photo-ops with Pres. Biden and Biden laid on the Irish charm. The president and the king even appeared to be quite chummy and happy in each other’s company, with Biden putting his arm around Charles a few times. Which led some in the media to clutch their pearls about royal protocols and gauche Americans getting handsy with the king. Interestingly enough, Buckingham Palace was very quick to shut down that conversation.

There was some speculation that Biden broke royal protocol by casually putting his hand on King Charles’ during their exchange.

However, a Buckingham Palace source confirms King Charles was “entirely comfortable” with Biden touching the monarch on the back. “What a wonderful symbol of warmth and affection it was between both the individuals and their nations,” the source says.

The source adds that — despite some claims to the contrary — it was in keeping with the correct protocol that the President, 80, walked in front of the King, 74, during the inspection of the Guard of Honor.

[From People]

Yeah – I don’t think Charles minded. I also don’t think QEII minded it either, especially when it came to Michelle and Barack Obama (she seemed to really enjoy both of them). It’s worth noting, again, that this was not the first time Charles and Joe Biden met – they’ve dealt with each other before, and the palace knows how informal Pres. Biden can be. The photos were actually lovely and did more to further the British-American “special relationship” than a million White House briefings. The king and president are generational peers with a lot in common. Speaking of, that was the point of the New York Times’ coverage, that Biden and Charles have a lot in common. Unfortunately, the Times included something about the two men’s families:

Charles and the president have also faced heightened scrutiny over their complex relationships with their younger sons. Mr. Biden’s adversaries have seized on Hunter Biden’s plea deal on two misdemeanor tax crimes to attack the president. The king’s relationship with Prince Harry has been in the spotlight since Harry and his wife, Meghan, withdrew from royal duties in 2020.

“They need to perform that job of being a father in an often public and glaring light,” Ms. Chernock, the history professor, said.

[From The NY Times]

So we’re putting “a prince marrying a Black woman and prioritizing his new family” in the same category as “Hunter Biden’s long and seedy history of drug abuse and terrible behavior” huh. Not only that, Biden is a much better father than Charles – while Hunter is a disaster, Joe Biden has loved him and supported him unconditionally and tried to get him help throughout his life. Joe Biden knows what it’s like to lose a child – he’s lost two of his children and he adores his sole living son, his sole living daughter and all of his grandchildren. Meanwhile, Charles pulled his son’s security, said nothing as a vicious and bloodthirsty media machine was weaponized against the Sussexes, and Charles evicted his grandchildren from the secure home Harry paid for. I hope Biden and Charles DID talk about Harry. Biden was probably like, “You did what to that redheaded kid? You’ve only seen your grandkids how many times??”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.