King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived at the White House on Monday for a state visit in Washington, a city still rattled by a weekend shooting and a transatlantic alliance showing fresh signs of strain. British flags lined lamp-posts outside the White House, where Donald and Melania Trump greeted the royal couple with handshakes. The four exchanged pleasantries and posed for photographs before heading inside for a private tea.
The president and first lady then took the royals on a tour of the newly expanded White House beehive on the south lawn. Later, Charles and Camilla attended a garden party at the British embassy in Washington, joining Trump administration officials including treasury secretary Scott Bessent, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, and Medicare and Medicaid administrator Mehmet Oz. Waiters served sandwiches featuring Scottish smoked salmon and roasted British beef with horseradish.
The convivial atmosphere in warm sunshine gave no hint of a bilateral relationship in crisis. The four-day tour, intended to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence, begins against the backdrop of a diplomatic rift over Trump’s war in Iran and a dramatic security scare at last Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, where a gunman opened fire inside the Washington Hilton hotel.
For Charles, the posture will be “keep calm and carry on”. Buckingham Palace said the visit would proceed after consultations with US authorities. A spokesperson said: “The King and Queen are most grateful to all those who have worked at pace to ensure this remains the case.” On Tuesday, the king will speak at a packed state dinner in the White House East Room and give a rare address to the US Congress.
The king is set to tell Congress that while the UK and US have not always agreed on everything, the nations’ shared traditions mean that “time and again, our two countries have always found ways to come together”. Charles is also expected to make brief reference to the weekend shooting and offer “the highest regard and friendship of the British people to the people of the United States”.
It is only the second time a British monarch has addressed a joint meeting of Congress. Charles will then travel to New York to visit the September 11 memorial, before concluding in Virginia, where he will meet conservation groups. Relations between the two allies have been bruised by Trump’s public criticism of Britain’s refusal to back military action against Iran, yet Trump has carefully separated his admiration for the king from his frustrations with the government.
