The King and Queen will carry out a controversial state visit to the US late next month, followed by a visit by the King to Bermuda, Buckingham Palace has announced.
The royal couple will attend a state dinner at the White House, and the King will address Congress during the visit, which will mark the 250th anniversary of American independence and “celebrate the historic connections” between the UK and the US.
The announcement came just minutes after US president Donald Trump launched into a bitter tirade against the UK over the Strait of Hormuz, warning “the US won’t be there to help you any more, just like you weren’t there for us”.
Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social that Britain should “build up some delayed courage” and go and take oil itself now that the US had “done the hard part”.
However, following Buckingham Palace’s announcement, the US leader hailed the royal visit as a “momentous” and “terrific” occasion.
He also revealed the exact dates, despite Buckingham Palace’s decision not to release them.
“Melania and I are pleased to announce that Their Majesties, the King and Queen of the United Kingdom, will visit the United States for a Historic State Visit from April 27-30th, which will include a beautiful Banquet Dinner at the White House on the evening of April 28th,” he wrote.
“This momentous occasion will be even more special this year, as we commemorate the 250th Anniversary of our Great Country. I look forward to spending time with the King, whom I greatly respect. It will be TERRIFIC!”
Commentators expect the visit, which will be the King’s first to the US as monarch, to be fraught with tension, and more than 140,000 people have signed a petition calling for the trip to be cancelled.
Liberal Democrats’ leader Sir Ed Davey called for it to be cancelled, saying sending the King there was a “humiliation”.
He accused the prime minister of showing a “staggering lack of backbone” while Mr Trump treated the UK with contempt.
It will be the first state visit by a British monarch to America for nearly 20 years, since that of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. Her final state visit to the US – her fourth – was in 2007, when President George W Bush winked at her on the White House lawn after making one of his famous gaffes.
Washington DC was also the scene of “Podiumgate” in 1991, when all that could be seen of the then Queen above a lectern and microphones was her hat.
The King’s trip to Bermuda – his first royal visit as monarch to a British Overseas Territory – will be a solo one without the Queen.
The UK rolled out the red carpet for Mr Trump’s second state visit to the UK in September, which was a glittering occasion featuring dazzling tiaras, brass bands and a sumptuous banquet served on 200-year-old silver.
But minutes before Buckingham Palace announced the royal visit, the US leader posted on social media: “All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the US, we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us.”
Buckingham Palace said: “On advice of His Majesty’s Government, and at the invitation of The President of the United States, The King and Queen will undertake a State Visit to the United States of America.
“Their Majesties’ programme will celebrate the historic connections and the modern bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States, marking the 250th anniversary of American Independence.
“The King will then continue to Bermuda to undertake His Majesty’s first Royal Visit as Monarch to a British Overseas Territory.”
Questions had been raised since over whether the King’s long-planned official visit to the US would be cancelled or delayed because of the Iran war, and President Trump’s repeated verbal attacks on Nato and on European countries that did not join the US in his war on Iran.
His rants have strained the US-UK relationship. Mr Trump has branded the UK’s approach to the conflict “terrible” and repeatedly lashed out at Sir Keir Starmer, including describing him as “not Winston Churchill”.
But the US president is always flattered by invitations to royal events, with their pomp and glitter, and always lavishes praise on the King.
At the start of September’s state visit, he said it was an honour to be invited to Windsor Castle. “My relationship is very good with the UK, and Charles, as you know, who’s now King, is my friend,” he said, adding: “He’s such an elegant gentleman and he represents the country so well.”
He also lavished praise on the King and Prince William at a state banquet speech, saying the King had “uplifted the poor, cared for rural farmers and tended to wounded veterans like nobody else”.
Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now, a group campaigning for greater equality worldwide, said: “Donald Trump represents the biggest threat to our security, prosperity and peace of anybody in the world.
“Sending the King for another unprecedented state visit effectively whitewashes Trump’s actions. It sends exactly the wrong message, at a time we need to be standing up to his reckless, deadly bullying around the world.”
