King Charles and Queen to visit US in April in first state visit for a UK monarch for 20 years
Buckingham Palace announced that the King and Queen will make an official visit to the United States late next month, followed by a visit to Bermuda.
The royal couple will attend a state dinner at the White House and the King will address Congress during the visit, which will commemorate the 250th anniversary of America’s independence and “celebrate the historic ties” between Britain and the United States.
The announcement came minutes after US President Donald Trump launched a scathing tirade against Britain over the Strait of Hormuz, warning that “the US will no longer be there to help you, just as you are not there for us.”
Mr Trump said Britain needed to “develop some belated courage” and that the US should go and buy the oil itself now that it had “done the hard part”.
This is the King’s first visit to the US as a monarch and is accompanied by his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. It will be the first state visit to America by a British monarch in nearly 20 years since Elizabeth II’s visit.
Her last state visit to the United States — her fourth — was in 2007, when she winked at President George W. Bush on the White House lawn after he made one of his famous gaffes.
Washington DC was also the scene of 1991’s “Podiumgate”; At that time, the only thing the Queen could see above the podium and microphones was her hat.
The King’s trip to Bermuda, his first royal visit to a British Overseas Territory as monarch, will take place alone, without the Queen.
Exact dates and details of royal programs in both countries will be confirmed soon.
Buckingham Palace said: “On the advice of Her Majesty’s Government and at the invitation of the President of the United States, the King and Queen will pay a State Visit to the United States of America.
“Her Majesty’s program will celebrate the historic links and modern bilateral relations between the United Kingdom and the United States to mark the 250th anniversary of American Independence.
“The King will then continue to Bermuda to undertake His Majesty’s first Royal Visit to a British Overseas Territory as Sovereign.”
The US leader posted on social media: “To all the countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the UK that refuses to participate in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: No. 1, buy it in the USA, we have plenty of it, and No. 2, gather your overdue courage, go to the Strait and just BUY it.
“You will have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the United States will no longer be there to help you, just like you are not there for us.”
Questions have since been raised about whether the King’s long-planned official visit to the United States will be canceled or postponed due to the Iran war and President Trump’s repeated verbal attacks on NATO and European countries that have not joined the United States in its war against Iran.
His rants strained US-UK relations. Mr Trump also described Britain’s approach to the conflict as “horrible” and repeatedly criticized Sir Keir Starmer, including describing him as “no Winston Churchill”.
But the US president is always flattered when he is invited to lavish and ostentatious royal events.
Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now, a group campaigning for greater equality around the world, said: “Donald Trump represents the greatest threat to our security, prosperity and peace of anyone in the world.
“Sending the King on an unprecedented state visit is effectively a whitewash of Trump’s actions. It sends entirely the wrong message at a time when we must stand up to his reckless, murderous tyranny around the world.”
