The King and Queen will undertake a state visit to the US in late April, Buckingham Palace has confirmed. Charles will then travel to Bermuda alone. Officials have not announced the exact dates or length of the visit due to security concerns.
The monarch’s trip to the US to mark the 250th anniversary of American Independence has been shrouded in controversy following the Iran war, which the US and Israel are prosecuting. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly lashed out at British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer‘s lacklustre response to the military operation in Iran.
He described Sir Keir as « no Winston Churchill » and recently called British aircraft carriers « toys » and said « don’t bother » to send Royal Navy help, « we don’t need it ». As a result, the long-planned US state visit comes at a diplomatically sensitive time.
But Trump views the Royal Family with deep reverence and personal affection.
The King and Queen’s trip to the US is about celebrating the historic connections and the modern bilateral relationship between the two nations.
The programme of events has yet to be announced, but it is likely to include all the trappings of a US state visit to the White House, including Guards of Honour and a formal banquet with speeches.
Charles has also been asked to address both houses of the US Congress, the first time a British monarch has done so in over 30 years. Queen Elizabeth II was the last British monarch to speak in Washington DC in 1991, during a 12-day state visit as a guest of President George HW Bush.
They are also expected to visit New York, but the Palace has yet to confirm this.
The visit will mark the King’s first state visit to the US as monarch, and his 20th official visit to the country. He has previously visited the US 19 times as Prince of Wales, including with the then-Duchess of Cornwall on their first official tour in 2005 following their wedding.
The royals have hosted four state visits in the UK by a President of the US since 1952, in 2003, 2011 and twice for the current President in 2019 and 2025., 2011 and two for the current President in 2019 and 2025.
Charles’s solo visit to Bermuda marks the first time he has visited the British Overseas Territory since 1970 and the first visit by a reigning King to the island.
The Queen will not join him on this separate part of the tour, and will instead travel back to the UK.
Last week, the US ambassador to the UK told a business conference in London that it would be a « very big mistake” for the British Government to ditch plans for the King and Queen to travel to Washington DC next month.
Foreign trips by the Royal Family are conducted on the advice of the British Government. It is not the King who decides where he visits.
When asked about the planned state visit on Thursday, Warren Stephens was unable to confirm the trip was going ahead but said: « I think he will go and I think it will be a very meaningful trip for him.”
Answering a question about whether it should be cancelled in response to the controversy of Trump’s war in Iran, the ambassador said: « I think that would be a very big mistake. »
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