Kate Maltby is a broadcaster and columnist in the United Kingdom on issues of culture and politics, and a theater critic for The Guardian. She is also completing a doctorate in Renaissance literature. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. View more opinion articles on CNN.

(CNN) Well, they did it. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner stood on the internal Buckingham Palace balcony on Monday and looked out at the Queen of England's garden. Beneath them, Ivanka's father walked beside the Prince of Wales, inspecting Queen Elizabeth II's guards. Finally, the Trumps had met the British royals, who hosted them as equals.

Kate Maltby

Ivanka isn't the only Trump child in London this week. Tiffany has been in Europe since last month's Cannes Film Festival, where she cost American taxpayers almost $20,000 for her security detail's hotel rooms alone, according to Quartz . She was also a guest at Monday's state banquet , although what she had to say of worth to the chairman of HSBC, seated beside her, is hard to imagine. Don Jr. and Eric were also in tow. As former Reagan adviser Mark Weinberg writes for CNN , bringing adult children on a state visit is an unusual move for a US president. But for Donald Trump, it seems to be part of a strategic plan to present his own brood as an alternative royal family.

When any American leader meets the British royals, it's always a little awkward. America, unlike Britain, prides itself on having long abolished hereditary privilege in politics -- at least officially. More than 200 years ago, Thomas Paine , the great Founding Father, wrote, "We cannot conceive a more ridiculous figure of government, than hereditary succession." When most American presidents meet British royals, the most awkward issue has been how best to avoid the word "republic," and steer well clear of mentioning how exactly Paine and his friends threw off the monarchical yoke of Elizabeth's great-great-great-great-grandfather.

This time, things are a little different. With Trump, there doesn't seem to be the traditional American skepticism of monarchy. Instead, he wants in.

In a major interview with British tabloid The Sun, owned by Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch, Trump told interviewers of his hope that his own children could hold a "next generation" meeting with Princes William and Harry. The idea of a "next generation" meeting had also been widely briefed by American officials beforehand. " Next generation " of what, exactly? Does Trump dream that in 30 years, President Ivanka of the United States will be meeting with King William of the United Kingdom? It's one thing for a US president to take his kids along for an exciting foreign trip; it's quite another for him to present them as an alternative royal family.