LONDON — Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla will make a four-day visit to the United States at the end of April to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary of independence, Buckingham announced on Tuesday. The visit will begin on April 27 and include a state dinner at the White House, a stop in New York City where the royal couple will meet with families of 9/11 victims, and a meeting with Native Americans at a national park in Virginia. The king will address a joint meeting of Congress, becoming the second British monarch to do so, after his mother Queen Elizabeth II spoke at the Capitol in 1991. Their long-planned visit coincides with an unusually delicate time for the “special relationship” between the US and the UK following weeks of Trump repeatedly attacking British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his government for not offering their full-throated support for the US offensive against Iran. As the monarch, however, Charles is constitutionally bound to remain above politics, able only to represent the UK rather than speak for its government. Rather than discussing any of the anxieties around the current state of the transatlantic alliance, the program for this state visit seeks to shore up the deep, historical links between the two countries. The visit aims to showcase “the breadth of the economic, security and cultural relationship” which has developed since the US signed the Declaration of Independence, according to Buckingham Palace. Upon arriving in the US, Charles and Camilla will privately meet with Trump and First Lady Melania Trump before attending a garden party and a formal welcome ceremony, featuring a ceremonial military review, the palace said. There will also be a state dinner and a ceremony honoring fallen soldiers to “mark the military partnership between the UK and the US,” which has come under some strain in recent weeks over the UK’s refusal to be further drawn into the war in Iran. After leaving Washington, the royal couple will travel to New York where they will commemorate those killed on 9/11 and meet with an organization working with young people “affected by food insecurity through a sustainable urban farming after-school initiative.” They will also attend events seeking to highlight the cultural and economic links between the US and UK, including one celebrating both countries’ literary heritage. And in Virginia, the couple will meet with some of the area’s indigenous communities and conservation groups. They will then head to Bermuda, a British overseas territory in the north Atlantic Ocean, for a two-day visit. — Agencies
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