King Charles’s state visit to US to go ahead despite Iran war concerns | King Charles III
Buckingham Palace has confirmed that King Charles will make an official visit to the US in April; But some politicians say the visit would be a “humiliation” as Donald Trump’s war with Iran continues.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said Keir Starmer had shown he was not prepared to stand up to the US president and cancel the visit.
The announcement of the visit came just minutes after Trump launched a fresh verbal attack on Britain, saying the country needed to learn to “fight for yourself” and get jet fuel from the Middle East by force. Last week, Trump criticized the UK military, saying the aircraft carriers were “toys” and undesirable.
Davey said: “While Donald Trump treats our country with disdain, the Prime Minister is showing a surprising lack of backbone by pushing ahead with this state visit.
“Sending the king on a state visit to the US after Trump belittled our Royal Navy as a ‘toy’ is an insult and a sign that the government is too weak to stand up to tyrants. What terrible thing does Trump need to do next to make the government think rationally and cancel the state visit?”
Senior Labor MP Emily Thornberry previously suggested it would be “safer to postpone” the state visit and said Charles and Camilla could feel “embarrassed” by the crisis.
Buckingham Palace said Charles and Camilla would make the visit at the end of April “on the advice of Her Majesty’s government and at the invitation of the President of the United States.”
Charles is expected to address Congress and attend events celebrating the 250th anniversary of US independence.
This is the king’s first visit to the United States as a monarch and is accompanied by Queen Elizabeth II. It will be the first state visit by a British monarch to the United States since Elizabeth II’s trip in 2007.
Charles will then visit Bermuda without Camilla for his first royal visit to a British Overseas Territory as monarch. Exact dates and details have not yet been announced.
State visits are rarely postponed except for security reasons or illness, and the royal family’s soft power diplomacy is seen as an important and unique way to engage with Trump, who is known for his love of the monarchy.
Trump announced this month that the trip was continuing and that he was “looking forward” to meeting the king again. He recently said: “It’ll be here very soon, as you know, we’ll be having a state dinner. It’ll be wonderful.”
He added: “He’s a friend of mine.”
The president was welcomed last year with an unprecedented second official visit to the UK for a US leader.
During his stay there, he hailed Charles 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 state banquet she ate “whatever they served us”.
Charles’ tour will raise questions about whether he will see his son Harry, with whom he has a troubled relationship, his wife Meghan and their children Archie and Lili.
