King Charles will make a state visit to the United States in late April, Buckingham Palace said on Tuesday, a high-profile trip that the British government hopes will help to repair relations with President Donald Trump, damaged by the war on Iran.
Charles and his wife Queen Camilla will visit the US in a long-planned trip to mark the 250th anniversary of that country’s independence from British rule, before the couple visits Bermuda.
“Their majesties’ programme will celebrate the historic connections and the modern bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States,” Buckingham Palace said, adding the trip was being made on the advice of the British government.
It will be the first state visit by a British monarch since 2007, when Charles’ mother Queen Elizabeth made what was the fourth such US trip of her reign.
Trump said the king and queen’s visit would begin on April 27 with a banquet dinner at the White House the next day.
“I look forward to spending time with the King, whom I greatly respect,” he wrote on Truth Social. “It will be TERRIFIC!”
Previously good relations between the US president and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer have been strained over the British leader’s reluctance to get involved in the war on Iran and refusal to let the US use British bases to launch initial attacks.
While US forces have since been permitted to carry out what Starmer calls defensive strikes, Trump has repeatedly criticised the prime minister, saying he was “not Winston Churchill” and had ruined the historically close alliance.
Trump has derided Britain’s offer to send more military assets to the region, and even as the state visit was being announced, he launched yet another verbal assault on countries that had failed to help and were now struggling to get jet fuel, singling out the United Kingdom.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the USA won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us,” he wrote on Truth Social.
As well as Iran, Trump has also changed his mind on a British deal with Mauritius to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, home to the strategically important US-British Diego Garcia air base, calling it a great mistake, to the delight of some of Starmer’s domestic opponents.
Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, has cast doubt on the lawfulness of the attacks on Iran, which are not popular at home and have raised concerns about rising energy costs.
But he has avoided any direct criticism of Trump and publicly stated that their relationship remained good.