Thank you very much. Your Majesty, Melania and I are deeply grateful to you and Queen Camilla for your extraordinary graciousness. And to William and Kate, thank you so much. It's been so great being with you today. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. It's a singular privilege to be the first American president welcomed here.
And if you think about it, it's a lot of presidents and this was the second state visit and that's the first and maybe that's going to be the last time. I hope it is, actually. But this is truly one of the highest honors of my life, such respect for you and such respect for your country. For many decades, His Majesty, the King, has epitomized the fortitude, nobility and the spirit of the British monarchy and the British people.
He's dedicated himself to preserving the glory and unique character of this kingdom, restoring life to the rivers and streams, supporting the works of its artists and composers, planting trees and gardens in its countryside and I just visited one of the most beautiful I've ever seen, that you just completed, and protecting the architectural integrity of cities, villages and towns.
He has uplifted the poor, cared for rural farmers and tended to wounded veterans like nobody else. I'll tell you that I just stood in line and shook about 150 hands and the King knew every single person and every single company. And some of them had bad names like X, Y, Z, dash Q three. [Laughter] And he knew every one of them, or at least I think he did because nobody was complaining.
I was very impressed with that.
Thank you, Mr. President.
But I just want to say that His Majesty has also raised a remarkable son and His Royal Highness, Prince of Wales, really amazing. We've gotten to know you and I think you're going to have an unbelievable success in future. Melania and I are delighted to visit again with Prince William and to see Her Royal Highness, Princess Katherine, so radiant and so healthy and so beautiful.
It's really a great honor. Thank you. Many years ago, His Majesty opened his archives to a biographer. Among the documents was a letter from 1993 in which he described the patriotism and guided as many projects. He wrote that he was, quote, entirely motivated by a desperate desire to put the great back into Great Britain.
In the finest tradition of British sovereigns, he has given his whole heart, everything he's got to those parts of Britain that are beyond the realm of mere legislation. It's not easy, but which define its essence and its virtue, its harmony and its soul. It's an amazing calling and there's nobody that's answered that calling like you have.
A fifth of all of humanity speaks writes, thinks and prays, and the language born on these isles and perfected in the pages of Shakespeare and Dickens and Tolkien and Lewis, Orwell and Kipling, incredible people, unbelievable people like we have rarely seen before, probably won't see again. The lion-hearted people of this kingdom defeated Napoleon, unleashed the Industrial Revolution, destroyed slavery and defended civilization in the darkest days of fascism and communism.
The British gave the world the Magna Carta, the modern parliament and Francis Bacon's scientific method. They gave us the works and Locke and Hobbes, Smith and Burke, Newton and Blackstone. The legal, intellectual, cultural and political traditions of this kingdom have been among the highest achievements of mankind, has really never been anything like it. The British Empire laid the foundations of law, liberty free speech and individual rights virtually everywhere the Union Jack has ever flown, including a place called America.
You know that place very well, don't you? His Majesty spoke eloquently about the bond which inspired Sir Winston Churchill and the bust is in the Oval Office right now, the beautiful bust of Winston Churchill, to coin the phrase special relationship. But seen from American eyes, the word special does not begin to do it justice.
We're joined by history and fate and by love and language and by transcendent ties of culture, tradition ancestry and destiny. We're like two notes in one chord, or two verses of the same poem, each beautiful on its own, but really meant to be played together. The bond of kinship and identity between America and the United Kingdom is priceless and eternal.
It's irreplaceable and unbreakable and we are, as a country, as you know, doing unbelievably well. We had a very sick country one year ago and today, I believe we're the hottest country anywhere in the world. In fact, nobody's even questioning it, but we owe so much of that to you and the footing that you gave us when we started.
Together, we've done more good for humanity than any two countries in all of history. Together, we must defend the exceptional heritage that makes us who we are and we must continue to stand for the values and the people of the English-speaking world, and we do indeed stand for that. On behalf of all Americans, I offer a toast to one of the great friendships, to two great countries and to His Majesty, King Charles III, a very, very special man and also a very, very special Queen.
Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much, everybody.