Keir Starmer plays the 'Royal Trump Card' - Inside the Palace

PM PLAYS THE ROYAL TRUMP CARD

The Prime Minister has pulled out his 'Royal Trump card' - a smart political move in a game where President Trump has the upper hand.

The President of the United States has everything he wants: money, power, fame, and influence.

So what can Britain offer to strengthen the UK-US special relationship, progress with a tariff-free trade deal, and ensure Europe is protected from Russian aggression?

The answer is something money cannot buy: access to The Royal Family.

President Trump has a deep affection for The King, and said it was a "great honour" to receive the personally-signed invite from him during a meeting between Sir Keir Starmer and President Trump in the Oval Office yesterday.

President Trump accepted the invitation, and it is understood there are also plans for an informal visit to Balmoral this summer - the only other sitting US president to receive an invite to the monarch's private Scottish retreat was President Eisenhower in 1959.

The State Visit itself is also "unprecedented", according to the Prime Minister, because never before has a US president received an invitation for a second State Visit during their term in office.

This could indicate the importance the Labour Government places on keeping President Trump onside, who is a republican and wouldn't naturally agree with centre-left policies.

A lavish banquette at Windsor Castle and British military pomp and pageantry in his honour is something The President will embrace.

This is the power of The King's soft diplomacy, an asset the UK Government can deploy to elevate Britain on the world stage.

Already, this soft power appears to be paying off; President Trump and Sir Keir Starmer have agreed to begin work on a new US-UK trade deal at a time when the European Union is faced with the prospect of economically damaging tariffs.

On the US-UK deal, President Trump told reporters: “We could very well end up with a real trade deal where the tariffs wouldn’t be necessary”.

President Trump has also appeared to back the Prime Minister's plan to give up sovereignty of the Chagos islands and lease back the UK-US Diego Garcia military base, saying the deal would "work out well".

The King's soft power, buttering up a royal-loving President Trump, can only go so far.

PRINCE WILLIAM WANTS HIS HOMELESS PROJECT TO BECOME 'MAINSTREAM'

On Friday, the Prince of Wales continued his mission to demonstrate homelessness can be ended in the United Kingdom - making it rare, brief and unrepeated.

It's a five-year plan, spearheaded by his Royal Foundation, and called 'Homewards'.

The Prince has persuaded Lloyds Bank to partner up with Homewards, and the high street bank has made £50 million available to small and medium-sized housing providers and charities.

The organisations which will receive loans will also provide wraparound support to people at risk of homelessness, including mental health provision and education programmes.

Previously, these housing providers have struggled to access funds, and on a visit to Bournemouth on Friday, Prince William visited an 11-bed housing scheme for people with mental health issues, which will benefit from Lloyds' funding.

The Prince said: “We really want to move Homewards from being a niche thing – people have started to live with homelessness for a long time, and it’s become a niche thing – try and make it more mainstream. so people understand it, and they get it.

“Everyone cares about people being looked after and not living on the streets – so how do we make this more of a national thing, and I’m hoping that’s part of the narrative of the five years.”

In the 1990s, Prince William secretly visited homeless charities alongside his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE MAKES UNPRECEDENTED RULE CHANGE

Whenever I am invited into Buckingham Palace, the dress code is incredibly strict.

For Ladies: Day dress or trouser suit. Gentlemen must be smart, with a jacket and tie.

Whatever one's gender, absolutely no jeans or trainers.

So where does Lycra sit into the Buckingham Palace dress code?

In theory, it doesn't. So it was quite a surprise on Wednesday when two Gladiators were invited into Buckingham Palace, dressed in very tight-fitting material.

Quite a sight for The Queen, who happily chatted to 'Nitro' and 'Fire' (real names Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and Montell Douglas).

It was The One Show’s Alex Jones who introduced the Gladiators to the Queen.

The Welsh presenter hosted the BBC's 500 Words competition, which received almost 44,000 entries, encouraging children of all abilities from across the UK to write.

The Queen presented the medals to the young writers in Buckingham Palace's ballroom, and the winners will be announced next month.

The Queen is passionate about promoting literacy in both children and adults, and hopes better literacy skills could improve life prospects in the United Kingdom and around the world.

PRINCE WILLIAM SPEAKS OUT AFTER TRAIN NIGHTMARE: THE IRONY "WASN'T MISSED"!

The Prince and Princess of Wales visited the Welsh town of Pontypridd earlier this week, celebrating with locals ahead of St David's Day.

The future King and Queen made Welsh cakes with a local baker before handing their creations out to the crowds who had gathered.

Prince William joked: "Don't get sick!" after declaring he was the one to make them.

Arguably, the most important part of their visit was speaking to flood victims devastated by storms at the start of 2025.

They made a private visit to the home of butcher Kevin Kidner, whose home was damaged by flooding.

Kevin told us the Prince of Wales was going to see what he could do to help the situation, particularly around preventing further flooding.

The Prince and Princess also joined a meeting of local businesses, who told the royals that consistent flooding over a number of years has rendered their assets 'uninsurable'.

Ironically, all of these meetings were delayed by around 90 minutes because Prince William and Catherine themselves were stopped in their tracks by a further flood.

The public train from London they had travelling on was diverted to avoid the flood waters - slowing down their journey.

A very frustrated Prince and Princess arrived at Pontypridd's market much later than planned.

Prince William remarked: "The irony is being stuck on a train because of flooding, and we're coming to visit an area that's been flooded. It wasn't missed."

QUEEN CAMILLA ADOPTS RESCUE PUPPY

The Queen revealed a very cute surprise during this week's trip to Canterbury to celebrate the work of the first English professional female author, Aphra Behn.

I was listening to Her Majesty inside Canterbury's library, covering the engagement for the Royal Rota, as she interacted with a couple of service dogs.

Her Majesty said: "I've just got a new puppy. Eight weeks old. It's a bit of everything. It's a rescue dog. It's called Moley. Looks just like a mole."

I understand Moley was adopted from Battersea Dogs & Cats home in London, of which Her Majesty is Patron.

She was born on Boxing Day to a half Jack Russell / half unknown mother and an unknown father.

A spokesperson for Battersea told the Daily Mail: We’re pleased to confirm that Battersea has recently rehomed an 8-week-old Jack Russell Terrier cross female puppy, called Moley, to our Patron, Her Majesty The Queen.

The Queen has long been a supporter of Battersea’s work."