Trump loves all things royal. Will that be the King's ace card when he visits?

US President Donald Trump is going to be greeted with a spectacular royal charm offensive during his state visit this week.

The aim will be to dazzle and flatter him with the ultimate red-carpet experience, with guards of honour, flypasts, historic carriages, a lavish banquet, pomp and pageantry.

In return, Sir Keir Starmer will be hoping this gilt-edged reception will help to deliver the UK’s message on awkward issues such as Ukraine and trade tariffs.

And if anyone can get the US president’s attention and influence him, surely King Charles III and the Royal Family can.

But how will King Charles handle his sometimes unpredictable guest in Windsor? Can he be the Trump whisperer?

“Trump loves the monarchy and the Royal Family. It’s a potential diplomatic ace card for the UK government,” says Anna Whitelock, professor of history of the modern monarchy at City St George’s, University of London.

This attraction to royalty will give the King a “rare advantage” in dealing with Trump, who usually expects to have the upper hand, says Prof Whitelock.

Sir Anthony Seldon, biographer of the UK’s prime ministers, agrees. The King can benefit from Trump’s “palpable enthusiasm” for the royals, he says.

“At the same time, King Charles is in the most delicate of positions. His own known views, on the environment, and standing up for democracy and the rule of law in Europe, are a long way apart from the president’s,” says Sir Anthony.

“He will, I am sure, be scrupulously correct and civil,” he adds. In essence, the King will stick to the script given to him by the UK government.

The government will certainly hope that this week’s royal schmooze-fest will make a positive impression on Trump, creating a feelgood factor for the UK.

It’s an unusual and carefully crafted state visit. There’s a crammed schedule squeezed into a day and a half, most of it dedicated to royal spectacles. Windsor is being used like a royal theme park.

With fears over security and protests, there won’t be any cheering crowds and no public procession, like the one recently enjoyed by France’s President Emmanuel Macron. Instead, it will be helicopters and closed events, including the carriage ride, which will wind its way inside the Windsor estate.

A YouGov poll over the summer showed opinion divided on whether Trump’s visit should go ahead, with slightly more wanting it cancelled.

And the nearest thing to the public that the president will see will be the staff working at the banquet.

The King will make a speech in honour of the president at the state banquet in St George’s Hall, inside Windsor Castle. He’s likely to praise the special relationship and talk of the anniversaries of wartime alliances, perhaps mentioning his mother, the late Queen, and Trump’s mother, who so admired royalty.

Every word will have been written in close consultation with the government, anxious to hit the right notes.

Guests, including many celebrity faces, will dine on a showcase of US and British food, from a menu written in French, with five or six different glasses for each place, in a hall lined with royal portraits and suits of armour.

Charles has decades of experience at playing host. Whatever his own private thoughts – and he’s not exactly going to be signed up to Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” message – the King has a strong sense of duty and will work hard to make this visit a success.

Royal author Robert Hardman suggests they’ll stick to safe topics – such as talking about the president’s Scottish roots.

And the royals have, of course, had plenty of visits from people with whom they might not have seen eye-to-eye. Mr Hardman describes how the late Queen Elizabeth II once hid behind a bush rather than bump into Romania’s President Caecescu in the palace gardens, during the dictator’s state visit in 1978.

The King is also not alone. The rest of the Royal Family will be deployed to help with the hospitality.

All eyes will be on Catherine, the Princess of Wales, and the First Lady, Melania Trump, when they visit a nature project involving the Scouts on Thursday.

Trump is also an admirer of Prince William, praising their “great, great talk” in France at the re-opening of the Notre-Dame Cathedral. William and Catherine will be an important part of the ceremonial welcome on Wednesday.

Queen Camilla will show Melania one of the quirkier items in Windsor, a remarkable dolls’ house, made a century ago by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. If things get too tough, the miniature wine bottles in the dolls’ house have real drink inside.