King's light touch approach to Trump is a masterclass in how to make friends and influence people

Months of planning, days of rehearsing and a dinner table that took almost a week to set up, the financial and reputational cost of this state visit, with the UK entertaining such a controversial character, has been huge.

But it appears to have paid off, for now at least.

Overt celebration isn't really their style at the palace - quite ironic when you think yesterday's military display was anything but low-key.

But overall, you sense there is a feeling that it was a job well done, and in no small part because of the King.

With the pressure on to make sure nothing went wrong and that Donald Trump felt as welcome as possible, it would have been easy for our efforts to look forced.

Clearly, laying on the largest ceremonial welcome in living memory wasn't subtle, but the King's light-touch approach was a masterclass in how to make friends and influence people.

In fact, Mr Trump, as the King said goodbye, couldn't help himself. Addressing the cameras as he always does, he said, "he's a great gentleman. He's a great King".

His Majesty looked coy; Number 10 and the Foreign Office would have been doing cartwheels.

He was heading in their direction, and, with a head full of pageantry, the politics at Chequers would hopefully now be easy.

At the state banquet, we'd already seen how they'd been determined to use the president's perception that he and the King were friends for maximum leverage.

Usually, we would get his majesty's speech in advance; this time, we didn't. Were they making changes up to the wire?

And when it came, this certainly felt like a speech that went further than usual, with the King using the most straightforward language to encourage the president to do more on our trade deal.

In return, Mr Trump was nothing but charm personified, albeit with an informality we don't usually see in that formal setting; there aren't many heads of state who'd publicly remark on the beauty of the Princess of Wales.

As Marine One left the grounds of Windsor to head for the prime minister's country residence, everyone just hoped that it had been enough.

With the difficult backdrop to this visit - Epstein, Ukraine, free speech, the list goes on - would the rosy glow of royal soft power evaporate under the pressure of questions from journalists?

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But it felt like a repeat of 2019. The warmth of Queen Elizabeth's welcome for that first state visit meant that Donald Trump, when it came to a press conference with Theresa May, was on his best behaviour.

He wasn't going to throw a grenade in and ruin his own big moment. Six years on, the King did the trick again, with any awkwardness avoided for Sir Keir Starmer.

Mr Trump had a picture book made up of photos from that first visit. Again, we have given him another coffee table book's worth of memories, as the Royal Family, as our diplomats-in-chief, have done their job.

The pictures of Melania Trump and Kate, adding that state visit sparkle, will also play well with the American audience back home.

The couple and members of their family have been wined and dined, he has been flattered, and he will want the world to see it, too.

Here we had a new monarch reinforcing those foundations of friendship, laid down over many decades between his mother and numerous other presidents.

As one senior palace aide once told me, it is those foundations that are so important for weathering disagreements and more difficult periods in any relationship.

And with a president like this, you could say they are even more essential, as we never know what's around the corner.

(c) Sky News 2025: King's light touch approach to Trump is a masterclass in how to make friends and influence people