The recent flurry of speculation surrounding King Charles III’s address to Congress—specifically the claims of “secret codes” or subtle snubs directed at the administration—highlights the absurd obsession with the trappings of power. From a Libertarian perspective, this is a distraction from the much more concerning reality: the continued alliance between two symbols of centralized authority.
Whether or not a monarch uses coded language is irrelevant to the lives of everyday Americans. What is relevant is the spectacle of a foreign sovereign standing in the halls of our legislature, reinforcing the idea that “leaders” are a special class of humans who operate above the rest of us. For Libertarians, the very concept of monarchy is the antithesis of individual liberty. A person’s birthright should never grant them a platform to influence the governance of millions, regardless of how much “tradition” or “protocol” is involved.
While the media decodes hand gestures and suit choices, the real “secret” is the bipartisan support for the military-industrial complex and the global administrative state that these meetings facilitate. We don’t need a King’s counsel, nor do we need a domestic executive who treats the presidency like a throne. True power belongs to the individual, and true diplomacy should be conducted through voluntary trade and cultural exchange—not through the expensive, taxpayer-funded theater of state visits and royal receptions. It’s time to stop looking for codes and start looking at the Constitution.
