Looking relaxed, chatting and exchanging smiles, the Princess of Wales and Melania Trump could not have seemed happier to spend time together in the autumn sunshine, proving the strength of their own close bond and the genuine connection within the wider special relationship between the US and the UK.
As they joined four- and five-year-olds from the Squirrels, the youngest branch of the Scouts, for a series of nature-based activities in the grounds of Frogmore House, they were a world away from the formality and opulence of the lavish state banquet that they had attended the night before. Yet their first official joint engagement had every bit as much significance for the future of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
"You could very much see how warm and friendly they were after spending time together," said a Kensington Palace source. "They were chatting away and they both really enjoyed the engagement. The First Lady was super-relaxed and she really enjoyed her time with the Princess."
Serious soft power
As President Trump sat down for talks with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at Chequers, Melania remained at Windsor Castle, where she was hosted first by the Queen – on a visit to the Queen Mary's Dolls' House and the Royal Library – and then by Kate, in a sign of soft power diplomacy at its finest. The highly anticipated invitation to join the Princess was "absolutely" the highlight of the trip for the First Lady, White House sources tell HELLO!.
"It's definitely the start of what looks set to be a very warm, long-term relationship between Kate and Melania," says another source.
© GettyAnd, according to the London-based CNN anchor Max Foster, the thoughtfully designed programme will have pleased Melania's husband.
"It's so important to him that she is treated with respect and is as much a part of the occasion as, if not more than, himself. The way the Palace integrated the First Lady would have been noticed," he says. "She wasn't seen as someone accompanying the President; she was treated as someone who was as much of a guest as the President. And I think he would have really, really valued that."
Thoroughly in sync
There had been several conversations between Kensington Palace and the First Lady's office in advance of the visit, and careful co-ordination was in evidence, from Kate and Melania's fashion choices to the treats lined up for the children at a picnic after they had earned their "Go Wild" badges. Each child was given a jar of White House honey, in a white gift box wrapped with red ribbon, after a packed lunch that included oat and cranberry biscuits made with honey from the Wales family's hives at Anmer Hall in Norfolk. Melania also brought red, white and blue neckerchiefs for each of the young Squirrels.
© Getty ImagesSignificantly, the two women wore pieces by the American designer Ralph Lauren in complementary autumnal shades – a skirt for the Princess and a chestnut safari-style suede jacket for the First Lady, teamed with Loro Piana trousers and shoes by Roger Vivier. Kate, who is joint president of the Scouts, also flew the flag for British design, wearing her brown tweed skirt with a chestnut brown cashmere knit and suede jacket by Me + Em and a scarf from Sudbury Mill, the Suffolk manufacturer she had visited the week before.
© Getty ImagesShe and Melania appeared to be in their element as they joined the children to draw and make bug hotels, the First Lady sitting five-year old Mabel on her lap and Kate sharing details of Prince Louis's passion for collecting conkers.
"We keep finding conkers in cupboards, in his bed; conkers everywhere," she said.
© Getty ImagesDwayne Fields, the adventurer and TV presenter who is the Chief Scout, accompanied them. Later, he described the outing as "heartwarming" and suggested that the two women might join forces again in the future.
"From what I've seen, I wouldn't be surprised if they were to go away and collaborate on something in the US," he said. "Having Princess Catherine as our joint patron means that lots of options are open, and I wouldn't take anything off the table when it comes to some kind of joint project or some kind of initiative with the US Scouts." He added that the First Lady had described her visit to the UK as "amazing".
Glamorous guest
Sally Bedell Smith, the US-based royal author, says: "Melania is an enigmatic figure, a figure of great glamour and style, and I think they wanted to make that extra effort to give her something that would be of interest to her. It was an extra layer of effort on the part of the King and Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales to seal this bond, this special relationship, in new ways."
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It’s been a week of high stakes diplomacy, showstopping glamour and spectacular pageantry, and HELLO! royal editor Emily Nash was lucky enough to watch some of it up close (in case you missed it, here’s her video report from Windsor on day 1).
Over on The HELLO! Royal Club, Emily has just posted her top three takeaways from a week when the worlds of royalty and politics collided in unforgettable fashion. Click the button below to read the post.
