Trump’s tea with Prince Charles could be his biggest political challenge yet

Prince Charles and president Donald Trump have little in common, other than huge wealth and an army of servants.

Interviewed for a recent TV documentary, Charles made it clear that once he’s succeeded his mother, he will no longer “meddle” in affairs of state. That day hasn’t arrived, and the proposed tea with the Trumps during their visit to the UK next month will be a supreme test of his patience and diplomatic skills. Charles – a passionate organic farmer who has campaigned for animal welfare – will be sharing a cup of Lapsang Souchong with the man who pulled the US out of the Paris agreement on climate change and endorses both industrial-scale farming and chickens being washed in chlorine.

As for the mechanics of the occasion, I wonder if Trump realises what upper class “tea” involves – it’s a meal that only wealthy people with time on their hands can accommodate. A meal enjoyed in the drawing room after shooting while the butler runs your bath, before pre-dinner drinks and cocktails which will be served in the library. Trump probably never drinks out of a tea cup – large polystyrene containers being more his chosen vessel, or tin cans containing a fizzy brown liquid.

Dinky finger sandwiches with the crusts cut off will be an alien concept to someone who chows down on buckets of chicken and burgers. Melania and Ivanka are probably receiving tea instruction classes (luckily servants will be pouring so there’s no chance of committing the crime of milk in first) to appear au fait with a ritual they have probably only seen in an episode of Downton Abbey.

Posh tea is a chance to exchange light pleasantries about nothing in particular while nibbling on a tiny scone. Trump has dined with the Macrons up the Eiffel Tower and enjoyed a banquet with Kim Jong-un, but an hour with prickly Charles at Clarence House could turn out to be the biggest ordeal yet. Royalty and their rituals can wrong-foot you every time.