New Delhi, April 28 -- King Charles III's trip to America on April 27th-30th is ostensibly to commemorate the 250th anniversary of America's independence from Britain. It is turning into a mission to help salvage the countries' "special relationship", as Winston Churchill called it in 1946. At stake is Britain's place in the world: should it keep hugging America, or embrace Europe?

The king faces fallout from the scandal around the late Jeffrey Epstein and the sex-trafficker's connections to the British elite, not least the monarch's brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and a former ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson. More pressing is whether the royal charm can bring respite from the bad blood between British and American leaders...