The reason why Britain is keen to hold Italy close

The King and Queen’s four-day state visit is part of the rolling reset of Britain’s post-Brexit relationships with Europe – but, says Michael Day, there’s even more resting on it

Never underestimate the value of soft power. Britain has the kind of cultural and diplomatic influence that enables us to punch above our weight on the world stage – and in spite of the recent cuts to international aid. And for this, we mostly have the royal family to thank.

For evidence that we retain our friends, allies and influence on the continent, look to the King and Queen’s state visit to Italy. The four-day trip – Charles’s first as head of state – is aimed at strengthening ties between the two nations, part of the rolling reset of Britain’s post-Brexit relationships with European partners.

In his welcome speech to the couple, the British ambassador in Rome, Edward Llewellyn, said that the visit “will inject further momentum to drive that cooperation across the board but especially on defence, on sustainability, on clean energy and our cultural ties”. But it will do so much more.

The royal couple will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary at a state banquet in the Quirinale Palace, hosted by the Italian president Sergio Mattarella. The King will become the first British monarch to address both houses of the Italian parliament, and meet the beguiling prime minister Giorgia Meloni.

Charles will no doubt be happier sipping brunello and discussing Renaissance architecture in Rome than shaking Donald Trump’s paw at Balmoral and listening to the US president as he squirts ketchup on his state dinner.

For the King and Queen, there is also the prospect of a whisky and parmesan tasting, as if to exemplify the closeness of the two countries. But the very thought of this curious food pairing also gives pause: hang on – why is the UK so keen to get close to Italy?

Italians love the British royal family, to whom they credit a distinctly un-Italian and nearly super-human level of self-discipline, quiet dignity and good manners. The older royals’ timeless sense of style also provides Italians with reassurance of their own superpower – modish glamour.

There are several reasons why the UK prime minister is keen to keep Meloni on side. The right-wing leader has emerged as a key power broker in the EU, the bloc with which Britain will have to rebuild security and trading ties while America self-immolates in a fit of isolationist spite. For the UK, Italy has the value of not being France – and being much better disposed towards us.

But, equally important, Starmer also needs to keep Meloni out of Washington’s orbit.

Just before Easter, the US vice-president and Europe-baiter-in-chief, JD Vance, will visit Rome on a troublemaking mission in which he will seek to appeal to Meloni’s authoritarian instincts and divide Europe. Starmer’s “coalition of the willing” needs Italy to stand firm in defence of Europe and Ukraine.

The royal state visit is but the latest salvo in Britain’s love-bombing of the country. Last September, Starmer heaped praise on Meloni for clamping down on migration, even as some in the Labour Party squirmed. Italy reduced the number of “irregular arrivals” crossing the Mediterranean in small boats from north Africa by 60 per cent in 2024 – an achievement attributed to an agreement with Albania to process would-be migrants off-shore before they enter the country. In his own arduous mission to “smash the gangs” carrying illegal migrants across the English Channel, Starmer is said to see Italy as a key EU ally.

Meloni’s hardline politics – which has seen her seeking to increase government control over the judiciary and intimidating critics in the media – might suggest she has more in common with Trump. Italy’s first far-right leader since Mussolini, her social conservatism is more Queen Victoria than Starmer’s Labour.

Meloni’s supporters point to the pragmatism, however, which has allowed her to work with the EU establishment in Brussels and provide Italy with the stable government that it has lacked for years. And the p-word is another thing she has in common with Starmer.

The close ties between London and Rome are underscored by Anglo-Italian defence partnerships. The two countries are involved in a consortium producing a new fighter jet rival to America’s F-35 – and the Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier will next month link up with the Italian navy and air force in a joint exercise in the Mediterranean. During the state visit, UK and Italian defence cooperation will be marked by a joint flypast by the Italian Air Force’s aerobatic team, Frecce Tricolori.

The need to get the EU’s third-largest economy on board with security/defence investments is perhaps obvious. Trump’s tariff war has strained Washington’s relations with its far-right allies in Europe, including Meloni. Anything Starmer or King Charles can do to quietly exploit this, and strengthen Britain’s status in Europe, is worthwhile.

It has not been lost on the Italian press that for Charles to undertake such a busy tour so soon after suffering side effects from chemotherapy is a sign of the quiet dedication that endears the British royals to so many Italians. The visit might not shake up geopolitics but it is to be welcomed. Right now, amid this tsunami of gloom, anything vaguely positive is.

At the weekend, I listened to a German friend of a friend talk about how to go about fixing the global situation: “It’s never a good idea to take on the whole world – as Germans, we should know.”

In difficult times, Britain needs all the friends it can get. All power to Charles and Camilla for doing their bit.