King Charles will proceed with a state visit to the United States in late April, Buckingham Palace has confirmed, despite mounting criticism from MPs who warn the trip could become a ‘humiliation’ amid the ongoing conflict with Iran and strained UK-US relations.
The visit, scheduled from 27 to 30 April, includes a White House banquet and an address to Congress, marking the 250th anniversary of American independence. However, several politicians have called for a delay, citing Donald Trump’s recent disparaging remarks about the UK armed forces and his aggressive stance on Iran.
Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Emily Thornberry suggested it would be ‘safer to delay’ the visit to avoid embarrassing the King. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey accused Prime Minister Keir Starmer of lacking backbone, stating that sending the monarch after Trump dismissed the Royal Navy as ‘toys’ is a humiliation.
Trump announced the visit on Truth Social, praising the King, but hours earlier he had criticised the UK for failing to support US-Israel strikes on Iran and urged Britain to ‘take’ jet fuel from the Strait of Hormuz. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also pressed the UK to ‘step up’ maritime defences.
Buckingham Palace emphasised that the visit proceeds on the advice of His Majesty’s Government and at the invitation of the US president. It will be King Charles’s first state visit to the US as monarch and the first since Queen Elizabeth II’s tour in 2007.
