In fact, Charles enjoyed a standing ovation when he stated that Magna Carta was the very \u201cfoundation of the principal that executive power is subject to checks and balances\u201d. In other words, it serves as the basis for the rule of law.<\/p>\n Charles is only the third ruling British monarch to visit the US. But during all three visits, Magna Carta has been trumpeted in support of a supposedly very special alliance. King George VI, Charles\u2019 grandfather, began this in 1939. Back then, he visited the New York World Fair where Lincoln Cathedral\u2019s original Magna Carta of 1215 was on display as the centrepiece of the British pavilion.<\/p>\n \n War broke out that same year, and so Lincoln\u2019s Magna Carta became stranded in the US<\/a>. It was guarded in the gold depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky, until it could be returned to England in 1946. <\/p>\n At a low point in British fortunes following both the fall of France and the Blitz, in the summer of 1941, prime minister Winston Churchill even considered gifting it<\/a> to the American people. Had he done so, this would have served as a reminder of America\u2019s responsibilities to war-torn Europe.<\/p>\n In 1976, when Charles\u2019 mother, Queen Elizabeth II, visited Washington<\/a> for the bicentenary of American independence<\/a>, there was again talk \u2013 not least from the British prime minister Harold Wilson \u2013 of gifting a Magna Carta to the US. <\/p>\n In the end, this was resolved by the presentation of a replica crafted in gold and enamel (which is now somewhat sheepishly displayed in the crypt of the US Capitol). <\/p>\n In all of this, Magna Carta for many Americans remains an icon of the rule of law, or what in the US is called \u201cdue process\u201d<\/a>. Where only four of the charter\u2019s original 60 clauses are still operative under English law, the entire text was incorporated in the statute books of no less than 17 US states<\/a>, beginning with South Carolina in 1836 and ending with North Dakota in 1943.<\/p>\n Images of England\u2019s King John presenting Magna Carta to his barons are carved or painted in many state capitols or court houses, including on the vast bronze doors<\/a> of the Supreme Court building in Washington. <\/p>\n The US National Archives (thanks to a long-term loan), and Harvard Law School both possess originals of the English charter. That of the National Archives is via a reissue of 1297<\/a>, sold to the presidential candidate Ross Perot<\/a> in 1984, while Harvard\u2019s is from a 1300 reissue, purchased in 1946 as a mere \u201ccopy\u201d for US$27.50 (around \u00a37 at the time). This was reauthenticated in 2025<\/a> as a lost (and therefore extremely valuable) original.<\/p>\n And in the UK, an acre of Runnymede in England, where Magna Carta was sealed, was granted to the American people in perpetuity in 1965. This was done both in honour of a shared respect for the principle of liberty, and as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy, assassinated in 1963. <\/p>\n Of course, there are aspects of this story that belong more to the realm of myth than reality. For instance, of Magna Carta\u2019s many appearances in US supreme court judgments, a surprising number cite it not as a touchstone of liberty or the rights of man, but in defence of commercial or corporate privilege. <\/p>\n Even so, the standing ovation for King Charles and his remarks about checks and balances suggest that Magna Carta remains a potent symbol. In what was widely received as a pitch-perfect speech, the king reminded the land of the free that the price of US (or indeed UK) freedom is not only eternal vigilance, but a healthy respect for the shared Anglo-American past.<\/p>\n Nicholas Vincent does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In his speech to Congress during a trip to the US to mark the country\u2019s 250th anniversary, King Charles made repeated references to Magna Carta, the medieval English charter that laid the foundations for the modern rule of law. Dating back to 1215, Magna Carta also established for the first time that the monarch was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\n Read more:
\n How King Charles charmed the US while taking digs at Trump<\/a>
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\n <\/em>\n<\/p>\n
\nLegacy in US statute<\/h2>\n
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\n SUDARSHAN BHATLA\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/281887\/count.gif\")
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