AMANDA PLATELL: Why Charles must cancel his state visit to the White House NOW
Frustrated by the global catastrophe he’s caused with his war in Iran, Donald Trump has been lashing out again at Britain’s armed forces.He insulted our Navy by branding our two aircraft carriers, HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Queen Elizabeth, ‘toys compared to what we have’.This follows attacks on our government’s approach to the war he started, including his complaint that Keir Starmer is ‘not exactly Winston Churchill’.I’m appalled at our failure to fund the nation’s defence at a time of world peril and ashamed at what’s become of our Navy. And I’m certainly no fan of the Prime Minister.But for this President to slam his closest ally like this isn’t acceptable. And it’s why King Charles’s first state visit to Trump’s White House next month must be cancelled immediately. Remember, the King served in both the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force and is the military’s Commander in Chief.Why should he and Camilla put a foot on American soil? Forget the ‘soft diplomacy’ that will lead to the King and Queen humiliating themselves by subliminally endorsing a war-mongering President. Don’t force them to pretend to be besties with Donald and Melania. The President has insisted that Charles’s visit will go ahead and that ‘it’s going to be great... he’s a friend of mine’, but Amanda Platell thinks it's a bad ideaEarlier this year Trump claimed, disgracefully, that Nato troops in Afghanistan had stayed ‘a little off the frontlines’. Yes, the same Nato troops whose British contingent lost 457 personnel in that war.The President has insisted that Charles’s visit will go ahead and that ‘it’s going to be great... he’s a friend of mine’.The greatest thing the King could do out of respect for our service men and women is to ignore the madman in the White House.Despite Kemi Badenoch saying we should all tackle shoplifters, Co-op tells staff not to ‘challenge or touch’ the thieves. Outrageous but hardly new. The burly bloke who used to man the doors at my local M&S was sent away for ‘retraining’. Never to be seen again. Animal magic In this miserable world, reasons to be cheerful: one, two, three.Samba the capybara has, despite a drone search, still evaded capture after escaping from a Hampshire zoo.And Punch, the monkey rejected by his mum in a Japanese zoo, has found love with another macaque.The seven dogs who escaped a Chinese meat factory and trekked home turned out to be fake news – but the happy ending is that it was one lady dog on heat pursued by six hopeful chaps.Even Mr Pitt can have a Brad hair day The Hollywood heartthrob wasn't looking his best while filming The RidersIt was oddly heartening to see that even one of Hollywood’s hottest men Brad Pitt can have a bad hair day, with thinning locks and a dangerously backward-creeping hairline.He also had baggy eyes and sagging cheeks as he was snapped filming his latest movie The Riders.Brad was looking all of his 62 years.It’s described as a ‘bruising’ role – not least for Pitt’s ego!Self-taught cook Gareth Baty wins MasterChef: The Professionals for his 1980s classics – prawn cocktail dedicated to his mum, then chicken and chips in memory of his father.A lovely idea that reminds me of Mum’s signature dishes: pineapple, glacé cherry and cheese on a toothpick; overcooked steak, lumpy mash and frozen peas; followed by lemon meringue pie from a packet. And at the end of each meal, Dad would say: ‘Delicious Norma, you couldn’t eat better in a restaurant.’We miss you Mel Married At First Sight dating coach Mel Schilling died from cancer at just 54The death of Married At First Sight’s legendary Mel Schilling from cancer at just 54 is a salutary lesson to us all. Despite offering sage advice for years to those unlucky in love, she only met her prince, Gareth, through a dating app at the venerable age of 39.Mel said before her diagnosis that her only regret was that she and her husband hadn’t met earlier.Although she added: ‘We don’t dwell on that. We’ve got another 40 or 50 years.’Ex-Olympian Sharron Davies says the decision to ban trans athletes from the Games is welcome but only affects the 1 per cent of elite female competitors and more must be done. It should be simple. If you are born with dangly boy bits, you must never be allowed to compete with females.After a 28.9 per cent pay rise over the last three years, resident doctors plan to strike at Easter, as they did at Christmas. Is it just coincidence they seem to take action over holidays, leaving patients to die as they enjoy extended leave?Even after its asking price of £4million was slashed to £1.95million, the former family home of convicted paedophile Rolf Harris – where he abused a young girl – remains unsold. His only child, daughter Bindi, inherited her dad’s £16million estate and persists with the sale. Wouldn’t it be more noble to hand it to Refuge to house similarly abused women and girls? Becks’ babes must grow up The headlines screamed ‘Goldenbawls’ – a nod to his famous dad’s nickname – when Cruz Beckham broke down in tears to be comforted by mum Vic and brother Romeo after his band played a new song, Loneliest Boy, at a London gig.It’s clearly a swipe at his estranged brother Brooklyn and a lament for the pain the elder boy has caused the family, given it includes the lyrics: ‘Mama don’t talk too much, it’s breaking her heart.’Jolly good. Yet you have to wonder when these Beckham brats will stop monetising their parents and stand on their own two feet. First Lady Melania Trump entering the Fostering the Future Together summit last weekA beatific Melania Trump, with other First Ladies including Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife Sara, held a summit to discuss her Fostering the Future Together for children.Bewildering, since neither of their bellicose husbands seem to be fostering the future safety of children.And sad that more attention was given to the ladies’ handbags – in particular a £65,000 Hermes Birkin – than to the thousands of kids who have died from their menfolk’s bombs and bullets.Is there not something abhorrent in pictures that Dr Rahmeh Aladwan posts of herself looking triumphant? She’s been charged with four counts of ‘inviting support for Hamas’. Little wonder that, with doctors like her in plain sight in the NHS, so many Jewish patients are too terrified even to tick ‘kosher’ as their meal option.Spare us the sermon, Sarah I despair for the Church after watching the ordination of the first woman Archbishop of Canterbury. Sarah Mullally said: ‘There’s something about celebrating women… being able to say it’s entirely possible for you to follow your dreams.’ For Christ’s sake, it was the ordination of the leader of the worldwide Christian Church, not an audition for Britain’s Got Talent.
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