King Charles and his tricky address to Canada's parliament

With anyone else in the White House, King Charles's state visit to Canada would have been a routine affair with plenty of pomp and processions and an obliging speech for the state opening of parliament. But with Donald Trump as US president, the same man who said he wanted Canada to become America's 51st state, it presents a huge problem for the monarch. Charles has asked Trump to come to the UK for a state visit in September, so he can't go too far in saying he wants Canada to remain part of the Commonwealth, an indepdent sovereign country which just happens to share a long border with the US. Charles can't criticise Trump's crazy notion of absorbing Canada into the United States, but on the other hand if he ignores the threat totally he will disappoint every Canadian both in and out of parliament. Charles and his speech writers are pretty clever at avoiding controversy but his address to parliament can't be anodyne. It has to underline Canada's importance as a sovereign nation without mentioning or even hinting at Trump. But yet getting the message across: keep out, Trump! Whatever he says, Trump will be reading between the lines, so good luck, Your Majesty, with coming up with the right formula to ensure everyone is happy.