It was the spring of 1991.
“Joyride” by Roxette topped the charts. Roseanne and Murphy Brown reigned on TV. And Queen Elizabeth became the first British monarch to speak to a Joint Meeting of Congress.
The world was evolving in early 1991. The Berlin Wall fell a year-and-a-half earlier, the Soviet Union was on the verge of fracturing and the U.S. and United Kingdom – among others – teamed up to defeat Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in the first Gulf War.
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The paradigmatic shift was central to the Queen’s address to Congress that spring.
“The swift and dramatic changes in Eastern Europe over the last decade have opened great opportunity for the people of those countries. They are finding their own paths to freedom. But they are finding that those paths would have been blocked had it not been for the Atlantic alliance, standing together. If your country and mine had not stood together,” declared the Queen from the lectern in the House chamber. “Let us never forget that lesson.”
That observation was the quintessence of the special bond forged between the United States and United Kingdom over decades.
250 years ago, the U.S. declared its independence from England.
A quarter millennium later, and King Charles descended on Capitol Hill to salute America on its 250th anniversary.
“Ours is a partnership born out of dispute. But no less strong for it,” Charles told lawmakers.
There is a rich irony that King Charles spoke to Congress in the era of the “No Kings,” movement, championed by the American left. But considering how relations between the U.S. and U.K. devolved over the past few years, some Americans may be less than enthused with the King’s speech.
Ties between the two countries are frayed over the war in Iran, questions about the future of NATO and tariffs.
“It’s a special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom — that toxic Republican policies over the last 15 months or so are eroding. And hopefully, the King’s visit is going to go a long way toward repairing the damage,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was more upbeat.
Johnson became the first Speaker to deliver remarks to the British House of Commons in January, but he hinted at the trans-Atlantic fissures.
“That friendship is very important right now. And our allies are very important to us. There has been some strained relations because of things happening internationally. But I think the King’s visit is very perfectly timed,” said Johnson.
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Timing was everything when Queen Elizabeth spoke to Congress in 1991. Late President George H.W. Bush declared the globe entered a “new world order.” The Queen told lawmakers that Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait was “an outrage to be reversed, both for the people of Kuwait and for the sake of the principle that naked aggression should not prevail.” That emphasized the importance of the international action – led by Bush – which repelled the invasion.
The Queen added that the American and British responses to the invasion “were identical,” noting “we have both learned from history that we must not allow aggression to succeed.”
Things are different now. There’s a mixed response from the West and some quarters in Europe to the four-year-old war in Ukraine. And the U.S. and most of Europe disagree about the U.S. waging war with Iran.
In 1990 and 1991, Bush 41 developed an international coalition to beat back Iraq. Former President George W. Bush did the same in 2002 and 2003, leading up to the second Gulf War. However, President Trump assembled no international alliance before moving against Iran – despite their nuclear threat.
Charles focused on risks posed in the current global environment.
“We meet in times of great uncertainty. In times of conflict from Europe to the Middle East which pose immense challenges for the international community and whose impact is felt in communities the length and breadth of our own countries,” said Charles.
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But it was America’s 250th anniversary which drew King Charles to Washington in the first place. In fact, his speech to Congress was among one of the first major events in a cavalcade of functions to mark the country’s semiquincentennial.
“With the ‘Spirit of 1776’ in our minds, we can perhaps agree that we do not always agree,” said the King. “At least in the first instance.”
That drew laughter from those in the chamber.
Nuance and subtlety are a hallmark of statements from the Crown. While King Charles didn’t mention the conflict in Iran by name, he alluded to it.
“It is my hope, my prayer, that in these turbulent times, working together and with our international partners, we can stem the beating of ploughshares into swords,” said Charles.
He suggested that the U.S. and United Kingdom could get on the same page because “people of different faiths grow in their understanding of each other.”
Like his mother 35 years earlier, the King spoke of where the U.S. and U.K. held historic connections, delicately mentioning the fraying NATO alliance.
“Our defense, intelligence and security ties are hard-wired together through relationships. Measured not in years. But in decades,” said Charles. “We are building F-35s together and we have agreed to the most ambitious submarine program in history.”
But despite some of the current political chasms, Charles observed there is an indelible, tectonic link between the United States and United Kingdom.
“Millennia before our Nations existed, before any border drawn, the mountains of Scotland and Appalachia were one. A single, continuous range, forged in the ancient collision of continents,” said the King.
Yes, a geographic and political ocean may cleave the sides now. But the King’s message is that there was always a connection between what is now the United States and the United Kingdom. All the way down to the Earth’s crust.
The King quoted President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
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“‘The world may little note what we say. But will never forget what they do,’” quoted the King.
So that is the challenge now for the two nations. All relationships oscillate, but the question is what the sides do with the present ravine between them.
No one’s forgotten what the West did — helping end the Cold War and liberating Eastern Europe from the Soviet bloc. The dissolution of the U.S.S.R. then followed. President George H.W. Bush certainly got his “new world order.”
That worked for a while, and that’s what Queen Elizabeth spoke about on Capitol Hill in 1991. Then 9/11 happened. And over time, the heady optimism that fueled the early 1990s waned.
That’s where we are now.
Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” tops the music charts in the spring of 2026. Unchosen and The Pitt dominate what people stream or watch on TV. And King Charles just concluded his address to Congress.
The world is evolving in 2026, just as it was in 1991.
But the question is which direction things will go. People might not remember “words” from the speeches by Queen Elizabeth or King Charles on Capitol Hill. But as Lincoln suggested, the world won’t “forget” what people do.
See where things are in 35 years.
