Former BBC broadcaster David Dimbleby has condemned King Charles's upcoming state visit to the United States, describing it as "an embarrassment" and questioning the timing of the trip amid ongoing military action in the Middle East.
Speaking on BBC Newsnight on March 31, Dimbleby, who hosted Question Time from 1979 to 2018, expressed dismay at the planned state dinner at the White House and the King's address to Congress next month. He said: "It's a very bad political moment to send him the present of the King. And a state banquet, while he's bombing the hell out of Iran? And people are dying all over the Middle East? A state banquet for the King, really? No."
Dimbleby suggested the visit should have been postponed, saying: "It would have been appropriate, I think, to have said quite simply to the president through the usual channels, 'Look, this is probably not quite the right moment for the King to come here. Let's postpone it until things quieten down.' To go in the middle of this war is a mistake."
He reiterated his concerns on BBC Radio 4's PM programme, expressing sympathy for the King and criticising President Donald Trump's past remarks about British forces. Dimbleby said: "I feel sorry for him going and, you know, having to sit down to a state dinner with a man who has insulted the British troops in Afghanistan and said they weren't particularly important and weren't needed, who's insulted – I'm not talking about insulting the government – but insulted our Royal Navy."
He added that Trump "goes out of his way to be rude about Britain and about Nato" and described the president as "a narcissist and a bully", arguing that "the way to stand up for bullies is not to take it". Dimbleby said he had hoped the government might find a way to postpone the visit while events in Iran unfolded, as it was "not perhaps an appropriate moment to go".
