Analysis by Sean Coughlan, royal correspondent
Prince William has been scrambled, like in his old air ambulance days, to rush to this meeting in Paris with President-elect Donald Trump.
Although what’s in need of rescue on this occasion is the well-being of the special relationship between the US and the UK.
It’s an important connection for both sides – and for wider military links such as Nato – but there’s not a lot of obvious empathy between Starmer’s Labour government and the incoming Republicans.
So the royals, who are funded by taxpayers, are being deployed to smooth the path, with Prince William taking on the statesman role, meeting Trump before attending the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral.
Trump is a royal fan, so that might make for a more positive connection. Prince William last met Trump in 2019, during the then-president’s visit to the UK, where Trump spoke very enthusiastically about his meeting with the late Queen Elizabeth II.
But there’s a massive contrast in their styles. Prince William’s flagship project is his Earthshot environmental awards, while Trump has dismissed efforts to boost green energy as a “scam”.
This week Prince William went to serve dinner at the Passage homelessness charity and on Friday night he was helping with a “kindness tree” outside Westminster Abbey.
A kindness tree and campaigning on housing and climate-change aren’t exactly the ‘Make America Great Again’ style.
But the aim of this hurriedly-arranged meeting will be for a royal charm offensive to help build bridges at an uncertain time for western alliances.
