King Charles invited to address US Congress during state visit this month
The King has been invited to address a joint session of the US Congress during his state visit to Washington DC later this month.
Mike Johnson, speaker of the House of Representatives, wrote in a post about
“Our two nations share one of the most important partnerships in history, and together we will celebrate the historic milestone of 250 years of American independence.”
King Charles and Queen Camilla’s long-awaited historic trip will take place in late April, despite calls for it to be postponed or even canceled due to ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.
US President Donald Trump said the trip would be “AMAZING”. and in a post on the Truth Social platform, he stated that it was “an important event” and added that “a beautiful banquet dinner” would be held at the White House on the evening of April 28, the same day as the King’s speech.
Mr Trump also announced that the “historic state visit” would take place over four days, from April 27 to 30, although the palace decided not to confirm the exact dates in its own official announcement.
“I look forward to spending time with the King, whom I respect so much,” he added.
The official announcement from Buckingham Palace on Tuesday came less than an hour after Mr Trump told the UK to secure the Strait of Hormuz and “go buy its own oil”.
This is the King’s first visit to the US as a monarch and will be accompanied by Queen Elizabeth II. It will be the first state visit to America by a British monarch in nearly 20 years, since Elizabeth II’s trip in 2007.
State visits are carried out “on the advice of Her Majesty’s Government”, which prompted the palace to launch its official statement announcing the tour.
Buckingham Palace confirmed that Charles and Camilla will mark the 250th anniversary of America’s independence, attend a lavish state dinner at the White House and that the King will address Congress during the historic tour.
However, the exact daily details of the program have not been announced yet.
Charles will then stop in Bermuda without Camilla for his first royal visit as monarch to a British Overseas Territory.
Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, condemned the decision to go ahead with the trip and accused Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of showing a “staggering lack of backbone”, while Mr Trump belittled the UK.
Mr Trump has described the UK’s approach to the Iran war as “appalling” and has repeatedly harshly criticized Sir Keir, including describing him as “no Winston Churchill”, as special relations between the two allied countries appear increasingly strained.
State visits are rarely postponed except for security reasons and illness, and the royal family’s soft power diplomacy is seen as an important and unique way to engage with Mr. Trump, the billionaire-turned-politician known for his love of the monarchy.
Mr Trump had announced in early March that the trip would go ahead and that he was “looking forward” to meeting the King again, and more recently revealed: “He’ll be here very soon, you know, we’ll have a state dinner. It’s going to be wonderful.”
He added: “He’s a friend of mine.”
The president was welcomed last year with an unprecedented second state visit to the United Kingdom for an American leader.
During his stay, he greeted the King as “a great gentleman and a great King”, praised the Princess of Wales for being “so radiant, so healthy and so beautiful”, and later said that at the sumptuous state banquet she ate “whatever they served us”.
