Royals will aim to send Trump home happy - and one absence may be a relief to him

The body language experts and lip readers are braced, with Donald Trump's big moment with the Royal Family, or "fest" as he excitedly described it, finally here.  The royals know it's their duty to play host and put on a show, but any cynical suggestions they may be dreading it might not be quite right.

We know Trump can't get enough of the Royal Family and that means we can probably expect him to be on his best behaviour. We saw it during his first state visit in 2019.

His Scottish roots, the fact his mother loved the royals, meant he absolutely revered Queen Elizabeth II; those who saw them up close told me it meant he was charm personified. Now, of course, we have a new monarch in King Charles - and it appears the two men have already developed their own special relationship, which has included writing letters to each other.

You might assume they'd be two men who are poles apart on political matters, and I'd bet they are on topics such as Ukraine, Canada, and the climate crisis. But I'm told during the 2019 state visit, they had a very amicable hour-long chat, or exchange of views, on climate change, which came as a bit of a surprise to many insiders considering Trump's track record on the environment.

But as one diplomatic source put it to me, often the King is asked to have many meetings on behalf of the Foreign Office, some that you could consider quite tedious. At least Trump is interesting and entertaining.

We can probably also expect to see more of Prince William during this state visit. Yes, partly because the government will know how popular he is in America so will want the heir to the throne involved in this significant charm offensive, but also because he has built his own relationship of sorts with the president.

You might remember they met in Paris last November, as William was deployed to represent the UK at the reopening of Notre Dame. In front of the cameras, Trump declared him "a great guy.