While the world watched in shock and disbelief as President Zelensky suffered humiliation from President Trump and VP Vance, the Ukrainian leader’s pain must have been felt strongly by King Charles who welcomed him at Sandringham House at the weekend.

It was a display of affection and support by our King and all the more remarkable as meetings between our monarch and government heads are usually held at Buckingham Palace or Windsor, and not at the King’s private family home in Norfolk.

There was a time when every British leader of the day would meet their monarch at Sandringham, but that has certainly not happened for many decades. Have you seen Tony Blair or David Cameron there? The King is clearly intending to go back to these days as the following day he welcomed the Canadian President Trudeau to Sandringham.  As far as I know Sir Anthony Eden was the last Prime Minister who travelled to Sandringham in 1957, arriving by train at the royal Wolferton Station, to tender his resignation to Queen Elizabeth.

The saloon where President Zelensky was photographed is where the royal family spend many relaxing hours, it is where our late Queen Elizabeth enjoyed doing jigsaw puzzles, surrounded by her favourite objects and family photos.

I can imagine that Trump was irked by this  public show of support to Zelensky; while the King has offered him a state visit, which will be a grand occasion, it was Zelensky who first set foot in a royal household since Trump’s inauguration. The show of solidarity happened as diplomatic efforts on behalf of Ukraine intensified over the weekend, with Keir Starmer warning Europe’s leaders they stand at a “crossroads in history”.

It was heartwarming to see local people turned out waving Ukrainian flags and cheering for the underdog. Does the man, supposedly the most important man in the world, have the same power to win our love, admiration and respect during his state visit?

It is surely more important to have the power to love, than love to have power.