The King has received several standing ovations during a joint meeting of the US Congress in which he acknowledged differences and disagreements between the US and Britain but emphasised the countries’ “irreplaceable and unbreakable” bond.

It’s only the second time a British monarch has addressed Congress after the King’s mother Queen Elizabeth did so in 1991.

“Ours is a partnership born out of dispute, but no less strong for it,” the King said.

“We can discern that our nations are in fact instinctively like-minded – a product of the common democratic, legal and social traditions in which our governance is rooted to this day”.

Addresses to joint meetings of Congress are generally reserved for the closest US allies or major world figures.

The last ​was by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in July 2024.

The King speaks to Congress. Photo: AAP

The King expressed gratitude to the chamber and the American people for allowing him to address the meeting in recognition of the country’s 250th anniversary of the US’s declaration of independence from Britain.

“For all of that time, our destinies as nations have been interlinked,” he said.

He quoted the Irish writer Oscar Wilde: “We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language!”

He praised Congress as a “citadel of democracy created to represent the voice of all American people to advance sacred rights and freedoms”.

“The alliance that our two nations have built over the centuries, and for which we are profoundly grateful to the American people, is truly unique,” he said.

“That alliance is part of what Henry Kissinger described as Kennedy’s ‘soaring vision’ of an Atlantic partnership based on twin pillars: Europe and America.”

He also acknowledged the attempted assassination of US President Donald Trump at Saturday’s White House correspondents’ dinner, saying “such acts of violence will never succeed”.

While he steered clear of the political acrimony between Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the King underlined the two nations’ shared values as the duty to promote peace, compassion and democracy while protecting the environment and religious freedom.

He also highlighted the AUKUS defence partnership between Britain, the US and Australia, saying he is “immensely proud to be the sovereign of Australia”.

“We have agreed the most ambitious submarine program in history, AUKUS,” the King said.

“We do so in partnership with Australia, a country of which I am also immensely proud to serve as sovereign.

“We do not embark on these remarkable endeavours together out of sentiment. We do so because they build greater shared resilience for the future, so making our citizens safer for generations to come.”

Under the 2021 security deal, Australia will acquire nuclear-powered submarines with support from the UK and the US, alongside co-operation on military technology.

Before his speech, the King met top Republican and Democratic lawmakers after a morning visit to the White ‌House with the Queen that included a ‌closed-door meeting between the King and Trump.

The speech followed a meeting between the monarch and Trump at the White House. Photo: AAP

Earlier, during a ceremonial outdoor reception at the White House, Trump stressed the friendship that has evolved between the two peoples since their days as adversaries during the War of Independence and the “wounds of war” it caused.

“The soldiers who once called each other Redcoats and Yankees became the Tommies and the GIs who together saved the free world as brothers in arms and brothers in eternity,” he said in a reference to World War II.

The King and Queen are on a four-day state visit to the US designed to underscore the ties forged between Britain and its former colony over the 250 years since American independence, an association known in recent decades as the “special relationship”.

– with AAP