King Charles on a Rehabilitation Tour?

Now imagine the same club sends its chairman on a state visit to a man with 34 felony convictions, a man found civilly liable for sexual abuse, and who – ah yes – himself orbited that same Epstein universe. 
But this man isn’t Uncle Andrew. He’s the President of the United States.

Welcome to the wonderful world of the rehabilitation of heads of state.

From April 27 to 30, 2026, King Charles III will visit the US president in Washington. 
He’ll address Congress. 
He’ll sit at the state banquet. 
He’ll smile for the cameras. 
Nothing. 
No contradiction. 
No royal eyebrow raising.

And Canada? Canada watches.

Because that’s the small, elegant – or depending on your mood, the absurd, maddening – thing about the Canadian constitution: King Charles isn’t only the head of the United Kingdom. 
He’s also Canada’s head of state. 
Our head of state. 
Which means: what he does, he does – at least symbolically – in our name too.

And we were not asked.
Not even a little bit.

“The King is above politics,” says the Palace. 
Aha. 
Interesting. 
Especially interesting after the actual US president publicly claimed that King Charles supports his haphazard Iran war without a plan. The Palace promptly denied it, of course. 
But the denial came quietly, almost in a whisper. 
Trump’s claim, on the other hand – loud, loud, very loud.

Whoever leads in the tango decides the direction.

Now you might say: oh, it’s all just ceremony, isn’t it? 
Pretty hat, lovely carriage, stiff smile. 
Harmless tradition. 
You could look at it that way.

But symbols are not harmless. 
Symbols say: who matters, who gets honoured, whose comfort comes first. 
And when the symbol at the top of Canada flies to Washington to flatter a man with a criminal record and Epstein adjacency, that symbol is saying something very clearly.

It says: the club seems a little odd.

And with that, the old Groucho Marx question surfaces: “Do I actually want to belong to a club that would have me as a member?”

I live in Newmarket, Ontario. And when I think about the monarchy – which, I’ll admit, I don’t do every day – I first think about the ceremony for my Canadian citizenship and the oath to King Charles III.

I also think about the old cottage on the lake. 
Most Canadian families know one of those. 
You inherit it. 
You love it a little. 
You fix the roof. 
And then one day you stand in front of it and think: actually, it might be about time to… perhaps…

That moment when the cottage is no longer cosy, but offensive – not because it’s old, but because it no longer fits. 
Because the world around it has become something else entirely.

King Charles is heading to Washington. 
He’ll cut a fine figure. 
He’ll be charming. 
He’ll remain “above politics”.

And Canada? 
Canada is currently fighting trade wars, sorting out sovereignty questions, and realigning its alliances. 
Canada needs a foreign policy voice that speaks for Canada.

Instead, we have a king.
Who’s flying to Washington.
For the British.

Will Charles succeed as a rehabilitator – helping the US President re-enter polite society? 
Perhaps.

Hmm. The old cottage.
Maybe it’s time…