El rey Carlos III habló elocuentemente de su importancia histórica en su discurso ante una sesión conjunta del Congreso. El presidente Donald Trump la elogió en su brindis en la cena de Estado por la visita del rey a Washington. Pero en ningún lugar la «relación especial» entre Estados Unidos y Gran Bretaña fue más obvia que en los armarios de la reina Camilla y Melania Trump. No solo se complementaron entre sí. Parecían complementarias.

Sus maridos pueden haber vestido para representar sus cargos, el rey con sus emblemáticas rayas diplomáticas de Savile Row, con el pañuelo de bolsillo elegantemente inflado, el presidente de rojo, blanco y azul. Pero las mujeres, con sus múltiples atuendos, hicieron gran parte del trabajo subliminal, prácticamente gritando a través de sus costuras «manos a través del océano». Para una historia que se contaría principalmente en sesiones fotográficas y valores de marca («marca Trump», «marca real», «marcas de moda»), eso importaba.

En esto, al menos, la reina y la primera dama parecían estar visiblemente en la misma página. Y aunque eso se podía esperar de Camilla, cuyo trabajo se basa y se define por el simbolismo, fue más una sorpresa por parte de Melania Trump, quien a menudo parece tan interesada en perseguir su propia agenda y proteger su privacidad (todos esos sombreros y abrigos) como en apoyar la de su marido o atender al ojo público.

Lo cual puede reflejar no solo la conocida estima de la pareja presidencial por los miembros de la realeza, sino también cuánto entienden los «royals» y cómo pueden aprovechar su atractivo ante los Trump.

El acercamiento de vestuario comenzó tan pronto como el rey y la reina bajaron del avión el lunes, con Camilla luciendo un vestido-abrigo Dior rosa claro (siendo Dior uno de los diseñadores de cabecera de Melania Trump y la marca que usó el primer día de su visita de Estado a Gran Bretaña).

Dior, casualmente, también es sinónimo de un lujo bien posicionado. Propiedad del multimillonario francés Bernard Arnault, presidente de LVMH e invitado a la investidura de Trump, la marca está diseñada por Jonathan Anderson, quien es de Irlanda del Norte. En otras palabras, cumple tanto con la casilla del protocolo diplomático como con la del gusto de Trump.

Y por si esa unión no fuera suficiente, un broche de Cartier en el vestido-abrigo que llevaba Camilla había sido entregado a la reina Isabel II en 1957 en su primera visita oficial a los Estados Unidos y presenta una Unión Jack y las Barras y Estrellas entrelazadas, un recordatorio de cuánto tiempo ha existido esta alianza en particular.

Marcó el tono del viaje.

Las mujeres también reflejaron sus elecciones mutuas en el tono (primaveral) y el origen (diseñadores locales) en su primer encuentro el lunes. La primera dama vistió un traje de falda ajustado en amarillo manteca de Adam Lippes, el diseñador de Nueva York que confeccionó su abrigo de investidura, y la reina, un vestido-abrigo blanco de Anna Valentine bordeado con bordados florales.

Lo que resultó ser simplemente un preludio al saludo militar oficial del día siguiente, cuando Trump vistió de blanco (Ralph Lauren) y el look verde menta de Camilla, de Fiona Clare, una costurera de Londres, era tan pálido que parecía blanco. Y las similitudes no terminaron ahí. Los atuendos tenían líneas entalladas de traje similares y estaban rematados con sombreros de ala ancha que casi combinaban.

Aún más llamativo fue que Camilla lució otra pieza histórica de joyería: el broche Cullinan V, que presenta un diamante en forma de corazón de 18,8 quilates, una de las nueve piedras cortadas del diamante Cullinan de 3.000 quilates entregado originalmente a Eduardo VII. (Otros dos diamantes Cullinan fueron incorporados al cetro real británico y a la corona imperial de Gran Bretaña).

Era un recuerdo de las bóvedas simbólicas del Palacio de Buckingham, el lugar donde Donald Trump publicó que «siempre quiso vivir», y un astuto guiño a la admiración del presidente por los adornos reales y la ecuación de tamaño con importancia.

Aun así, quizás ninguna imagen fue tan sorprendente en su subtexto como las reveladas el martes por la noche en la primera cena de Estado de gala desde 2007.

Fue entonces cuando la primera dama optó por un vestido rosa claro sin tirantes, también de Dior, igual que el abrigo rosa de llegada de Camilla. («¿Coincidencia? Dudoso»). Y no era cualquier rosa; era rosa delphinium, siendo el delphinium una de las flores favoritas del rey. (Cabe destacar que el vestido fue hecho a medida, al igual que el traje de Ralph Lauren de Melania Trump anteriormente. Claramente, los diseñadores ya no tienen reservas no solo sobre ver sus prendas compradas por los Trump, sino también sobre trabajar con ellos).

Camilla también estaba de rosa, aunque de un tono más fucsia, de nuevo de Fiona Clare, esta vez combinado con un enorme collar de amatistas y diamantes que perteneció a la reina Victoria.

El rey puede haberle entregado al presidente una campana de oro como regalo de cena y ofrecido un brindis que fue una clase magistral de tacto, pero la reina, con sus opulentas gemas, le dio algo más: la oportunidad de sentirse como un miembro de la realeza por una noche.

La moda, resulta ser, puede ser una herramienta tan eficaz cuando se trata de halagos como cualquier palabra.

Este artículo apareció originalmente en The New York Times.

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Former President Barack Obama was lambasted for rebuking a new Supreme Court ruling against race-based redistricting in Louisiana, just days after cutting ads for a Virginia effort to transform that state’s map into a 10-1 Democratic advantage.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 against Louisiana’s 2024 mid-decade redistricting that produced a serpentine district represented by Rep. Cleo Fields of Baton Rouge, calling it an «illegal» racial gerrymander, while Obama argued the decision weakened a Voting Rights Act provision prohibiting race-based discrimination.

«Today’s Supreme Court decision effectively guts a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act, freeing state legislatures to gerrymander legislative districts to systematically dilute and weaken the voting power of racial minorities — so long as they do it under the guise of ‘partisanship’ rather than explicit ‘racial bias’,» Obama said.

«Unless it’s Virginia. In that case, it’s great to have a 10-1 gerrymander,» Bush White House press secretary Ari Fleischer replied in a post on X.

SPANBERGER FACES ‘BAIT-AND-SWITCH’ BACKLASH IN FINAL HOURS BEFORE REDISTRICTING REFERENDUM

Fleischer was joined by former North Carolina Congressman and ex-Trump aide Mark Meadows, who addressed Obama to say his rebuke was «beneath you.»

Former DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin also weighed in, remarking that, to the former president, «disenfranchising millions of voters and forcing 45% of Virginians to be represented by one congressional district and 55% represented by 10 is now ‘standing up for Democracy.’

«Is that ‘equity’? What a farce.»

Obama went on to slam the current makeup of the Supreme Court and its conservative majority, saying its decision in the case is another example of «abandoning its vital role in ensuring equal participation in our democracy and protecting the rights of minority groups against majority overreach.»

Other critics noted Obama has been mum on his own home state’s gerrymandered map, which features several zigzagging districts connecting disparate neighborhoods and suburbs of Chicago, while other Democratic strongholds form serpentine districts around the interior of the state to connect cities like Champaign, Springfield and Moline with other Democratic areas.

The Virginia redistricting map was approved narrowly by voters late last week in a special election that the Virginia Supreme Court upheld amid a legal fight over the «ramming» through of mid-decade redistricting. (Virginia Legislative Information System)

Other critics noted how Democrats control every congressional district in New England, plus Hawaii, citing reported figures that all of those states have Republican populations between 32% and 48%, but none of those voters have like-minded representation in Washington.

The 44th president added that setbacks like that can be overcome, calling on Americans who respect «democratic ideals» to vote in record numbers to outweigh any electoral changes brought on by the court’s decision.

In his own reading of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, Justice Samuel Alito said that when «correctly understood, [it] does not impose liability at odds with the Constitution, and it should not have imposed liability on Louisiana for its 2022 map.»

Just days earlier, Obama was front and center in the largely Democratic-led «Vote Yes» campaign in Virginia, where the commonwealth’s Democratic legislative majority and Gov. Abigail Spanberger backed a voter referendum to implement their own mid-decade redistricting that would favor their party for at least the next four years.

DEMOCRATS WIN VIRGINIA REDISTRICTING FIGHT, THREATENING REPUBLICAN HOUSE MAJORITY

The approved map would transform Virginia’s 6-5 Democratic congressional majority into a likely 10-1 split by redrawing rural districts to include Washington, D.C., suburbs or the Richmond-Petersburg metro area, which proponents like Obama said is needed to restore fairness on a national level.

«By voting yes, you have a chance to do something important, not just for the commonwealth but for our entire country. By voting yes, you can push back on the Republicans trying to give themselves an unfair advantage in the midterms,» Obama said.

Obama claimed in a pro-Yes ad that supporters could «level the playing field.»

CARVILLE AND CO-HOST LAMENT THAT TRUMP SPARKED A REDISTRICTING WAR, MAKING BOTH PARTIES LOOK CYNICAL

Louisiana State Sen. Cleo Fields speaks during the swearing-in of the state Legislature in Baton Rouge, La., on Jan. 8, 2024. (Gerald Herbert/Associated Press)

While largely a Democratic concern, and as newly drawn districts in Louisiana and Alabama favored Democrats, Virginia’s «yes» campaign did have support from a handful of non-Democrats such as anti-Trump former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.

Like Louisiana’s map, Virginia’s plan has been subject to dueling litigation, including a recent move by a circuit judge in Tazewell County in the western mountains to place a hold on certification of the «Yes» vote, while the state Supreme Court considers a case over the referendum’s legislative process and legitimacy.

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In a statement, Fields said Wednesday’s high court decision «dismantled» decades of settled law and was not a «neutral reading» of the Voting Rights Act.

«Today’s majority has resurrected exactly that standard — and the practical effect is to make it far harder for minority communities to challenge redistricting maps that dilute their political voice,» Fields said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Obama for comment on criticisms.

Fox News’ David Spunt contributed to this report.

Britain raised its national terror threat level to «severe» on Thursday in the wake of the antisemitic stabbing attack in Golders Green, warning that another terrorist attack is now considered «highly likely» in the next six months.

The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) increased the U.K. National Threat Level from «substantial» to «severe» a day after two people were stabbed in north London in what police have formally declared a terrorist incident.

Officials said the decision was not based solely on the Golders Green attack, but reflects a broader rise in extreme right-wing terrorism in Britain.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood called Wednesday’s violence an «abhorrent, antisemitic attack» and said the elevated threat level would be a source of concern for many, «particularly amongst our Jewish community, who have suffered so much.»

BELGIUM DEPLOYS MILITARY TO PROTECT JEWISH SITES AFTER ANTISEMITIC SYNAGOGUE EXPLOSION

Police said officers were called to Highfield Avenue in the Barnet borough at about 11:16 a.m. Wednesday following reports of multiple stabbings.

Two men, ages 76 and 34, were treated at the scene for stab wounds before being taken to a hospital, where they remain and are «being looked after,» Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said.

On Thursday, police identified the suspect as 45-year-old Essa Suleiman. Suleiman is a British national born in Somalia who had a «history of serious violence and mental health issues», police say.

NEW TERROR GROUP WITH REPORTED IRAN TIES CLAIMS 4 ATTACKS ACROSS EUROPE

Police arrest a demonstrator during a rally organized by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, opposite Downing Street in central London on April 30, 2026, following the stabbing of two Jewish men the day before in the Golders Green neighborhood of north London. (Carlos Jasso/ AFP via Getty Images)

The Home Office said the threat-level increase comes against a backdrop of rising terrorism in the U.K.

On Thursday, protesters gathered on Downing Street to voice concerns that not enough has been done to protect the Jewish community.

In response to the attack and a recent rise of antisemitic arson attacks in London, the government announced an additional £25 million in funding to protect Jewish communities, bringing total support this year to £58 million. Officials said the money will be used to boost police patrols and protective security at synagogues, schools and community centers.

RECORD ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS IN CANADA FUEL CRITICISM OF CARNEY GOVERNMENT RESPONSE

The funding will also support an expansion of Project Servator, which deploys specialist and plainclothes officers trained to spot suspicious behavior and identify people preparing to commit serious crimes.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the British government cannot credibly claim to be combating antisemitism unless it also confronts what he described as «explicit incitement against the Jewish state.»

«Hate slogans and anti-Semitic marches in the streets of London aren’t ‘free speech’. They are incitement,» he wrote on X. «They bring terror directed against Jews.
They must be banned. The phrase ‘Globalise the Intifada’, means killing Jews everywhere. It must be banned.»

«This is what the British government must immediately do to fight antisemitism. Otherwise, it’s just more empty words.»

Attorney General Lord Richard Hermer, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during a meeting with representatives from criminal justice agencies at number 10 Downing Street, Westminster, following a terror attack in Golders Green. (Dan Kitwood/PA Images via Getty Images)

Taylor said the attack has now been formally classified as terrorism and that counterterrorism officers are working with security services to establish the full circumstances and develop a complete intelligence picture.

«Whilst I must stress this investigation is at an early stage, we are working quickly to understand exactly what happened,» Taylor said.

BOULDER TERROR ATTACK LATEST IN ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS RISING ACROSS US IN 2025

A police officer at the scene where two people were stabbed Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in a London neighborhood with a large Jewish community and a 45-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder over what authorities called an antisemitic attack. (Lucy North/PA via AP)

A statement posted on X by Shomrim, a volunteer neighborhood watch group in Orthodox Jewish communities, said the suspect was seen «armed with a knife» on Golders Green Road and was detained by members before police arrived.

Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams said officers «swiftly Tasered and arrested the suspect before he could cause further harm,» adding that investigators are «considering all possible motives» and will maintain a visible police presence in the area.

Police at the scene where two people were stabbed Wednesday April 29, 2026 in a London neighborhood with a large Jewish community and a 45-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder over what authorities called an antisemitic attack. (Lucy North/PA via AP)

The U.K. was last at the «severe» threat level in November 2021, following the Liverpool Women’s Hospital bombing and the killing of lawmaker Sir David Amess, before it was lowered to «substantial» in February 2022.

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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the violence, calling attacks on Jewish residents «an attack on Britain,» while London Mayor Sadiq Khan said there is «no place for antisemitism» in the city.

Fox News’ Bradford Betz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.