🔗 Share this article

Never before in its long and prestigious past had the public transport vehicle from Windsor to Staines received such a reception. Accompanied by police, tracked by worldwide media, the vibrant single-decker made its way regally up Windsor’s high street, while bystanders strained to catch a glimpse of the solitary senior inside. “It’s not him,” muttered one man, rather superfluously.

An Event of Great Fuss About Not Much

It was that kind of a day on the edges of the Thames: lots of anticipation over not much, a distraction that felt mostly peripheral to the pageantry taking place within the sealed castle grounds. “I’m afraid not much is going to occur, madam,” told a police officer a woman filming a online video from the curb, as he moved her a safe distance toward the pavement.

Small Happenings and Lots of Waiting

Of course, a few events actually occur, albeit very little of significant impact in the wider picture. Supporters called out opinions at each other. Debates erupted over Gaza. Attendees flaunted flags and brandished placards. A man in a political cap ate a pub treat from the fish and chips store and winced. Television crew members shuttled up and down Castle Hill ferrying coffees to on-screen talent. Light rain fell.

The scene turned into a sea of people observing other people look at things, simultaneously pleased by their close location to the central happening and frustrated by their inability to change it.

River Security and Surprising Nature

“Our team is prepared for whatever may occur that will take place on or around the water,” declared Sgt Lyn Smith, chief of a combined marine unit from Thames Valley and Hampshire police. As the dignitaries came close to Windsor, pretty much the only thing taking place near the water was a swan taking a dump.

A Gathering Designed for Minimal Public Interaction

Naturally, this festival of nothing was to some extent built into the arrangement, the expected outcome of a state visit whose main goal was to steer clear of any possible contact with the general public. As Trump and King Charles reviewed the guard, the crowd outside was left entirely to its own resources. A small hint: if you tell a political fan that his oversized flag only has 49 stars on it, he’ll still be counting them half an hour later.

Broadcast Coverage and the Pursuit for Storylines

Nonetheless, everyone was here and the broadcasts were ongoing, so how was each outlet going to use up their airtime? The BBC appeared to spend most of the morning airing aerial shots of the castle. “The lead item today, ancient fortress stays upright.”

“Observe some precipitation on the camera there, and rain clearly has an impact on flying,” a talking head rambled on a news channel in an attempt to explain why Trump’s helicopter was still had not taken off. Evidently some different amusements was necessary.

The Enthusiasts Take the Spotlight

Step forward: the dedicated supporters. And they are never in limited quantity at events like these, pulled like moths to a journalist gathering, readily filling long stretches of silent moments with their antics. There was a guy clad from head to toe in UK and US flags. There was a woman with a muzzled alsatian wrapped in a campaign apparel. There was a guy who had spent two days producing a picture of Trump as a early human, carrying King Charles on his back like a baby. There were people outside the outdoor clothing shop having heated arguments about the meaning of genocide. All encountered a eager listeners among the roving reporters desperate for copy, any copy, any kind of detail.

One understands how easily what passes for viewpoints in this country is shaped by the loudest – and by extension the most unconventional – people.

An Attraction for Outcasts

Maybe it is unavoidable that any circus will attract a few characters. But this does also seem to be a characteristic very specific to Trump: the unerring ability to attract misfits and misfits wherever he goes. To be honest: Trump himself is just a very unusual guy, the kind of individual you imagine would come from an regrettable nuclear accident involving a large block of orange cheese. And in a sense his entire time in office has been a kind of bat signal to the discontented, the gullible, the intrigued by theories, the semi-sentient. Oddities of the world, unite. We gather at Windsor at daybreak. Put on whatever you like.

Local Reality Makes Itself Known

Dignitaries. Police. Journalists. The Hampshire and Berkshire branches of the Trump enthusiast network. Was there anyone here remotely normal? “Not in Windsor,” snorted the girl behind the bar of the Horse and Groom. “They’re all too busy shouting at each other.” And maybe there is something about this place that brings out the cosplay in everyone, a royal seat with a town grudgingly attached, a kind of façade England with its waves of bunting and tourist traps, a dream to sell the tourists. What sort of actuality were we really hoping to encounter here?

The real world does still make an appearance, if you look hard enough. A little distance from the noisy assembly, a couple of local Liberal Democrat councillors were giving away leaflets. Improve our parks and playgrounds. Renew broken streetlights. Deal with “eyesores”, whatever they are. This is the governance that truly affects people’s lives, far closer at any rate than some American president sitting in a traditional vehicle that nobody can see. But they’re having a tough time getting the point across. “We’re about caring for people, repairing things, serving communities,” says Mark Wilson of the Eton and Castle ward. “But that’s not what draws attention.”

The Conclusion of the Spectacle

In the grounds, men in funny hats were playing wind devices. The feasting setup in St George’s Hall was being prepared. Outside, the crowds were dispersing. The No 10 bus was well on its way to Staines. The woman in the campaign cap had entered Wagamama to grab some teppanyaki. And it was hard not to sense the gulf between these realities, far more profound than a castle wall, worlds momentarily nearby but eternally estranged.