British royals begin four-day US visit despite shooting

Against a backdrop of mounting geopolitical strain, Britain’s King Charles arrives in the United States today for a state visit overshadowed by the Iran war and by a shooting at a dinner attended by US President Donald Trump just two days ago.

The four-day journey by Charles and Queen Camilla is meant to celebrate the long-standing relationship between Britain and the United States as America commemorates its 250th anniversary, the British government said.

During the visit, Charles is set to become the first British monarch since the late queen Elizabeth II in 1991 to address Congress. The royal couple will also take tea with Mr Trump and his wife Melania and attend a state dinner.

On Wednesday, the royals are due in New York, where they will tour the 9/11 memorial, before leaving on Thursday for Bermuda, marking Charles’s first trip to a British overseas territory since becoming monarch.

Queen Camilla, King Charles, Donald and Melania Trump at Windsor Castle in England last September

Authorities said an alleged gunman, believed to have been acting alone, was in custody after the incident at the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents’ Association.

Speaking at a briefing in Washington late yesterday, Britain’s ambassador to the US, Christian Turner, said that after extensive discussions, “we are all very confident that all appropriate security measures are in place” for the state visit.

According to the palace, Charles’s first US state visit as monarch is taking place at the request of both the UK government and Mr Trump.

Still, the trip has stirred significant controversy as Mr Trump’s war with Iran opens an unusually visible rift between London and Washington.

Mr Trump has sharply criticised British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for opposing the war.

The two leaders spoke by phone yesterday, with Mr Starmer offering “his best wishes” after what his office described as the “shocking scenes” at the gala the previous night.

They also discussed “the urgent need to get shipping moving again in the Strait of Hormuz, given the severe consequences for the global economy and cost of living for people in the UK and globally,” Mr Starmer’s office said.

Although Mr Starmer has publicly condemned the war, he has defended the decision to press ahead with the state visit. A YouGov poll conducted in early April found that 48% of Britons support cancelling it.

“Often what the monarchy is able to do, through the bonds that they build, is reach through the decades in a situation like this,” Mr Starmer told MPs when asked why the trip was still going ahead.

Mr Trump told the BBC last Thursday that the visit could “absolutely” help mend ties.

“He’s a friend of mine for a long time, so he’s coming, and we’re going to have a great time, and he represents his nation like nobody else can do it,” Mr Trump told Fox News on Sunday.

Charles, 77, demonstrated those diplomatic instincts during Mr Trump’s state visit to Britain last September. Craig Prescott, a monarchy expert at Royal Holloway University of London, said the king is “generally very good” at handling occasions of that kind.

But Mr Prescott said Charles would probably acknowledge the “very big elephant in the room” in carefully coded language when he addresses the US Congress tomorrow.

At the same time, the scandal surrounding the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatens to cast a shadow over the tightly managed tour.

Charles has already been tested by the crisis over the friendship his brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, previously known as prince Andrew, had with the late billionaire, who died in prison in 2019.

The long-running controversy deepened after Andrew was arrested in mid-February following fresh revelations about their links.

The king, who removed his disgraced brother’s titles in October, said “the law must take its course” in a rare personally signed statement issued after the arrest.

Andrew, who remains under police investigation, has not been charged and has denied any wrongdoing.

The US visit has been carefully choreographed to limit unscripted moments. Only photographers will be allowed to record tomorrow’s Oval Office meeting between Mr Trump and Charles.