King Charles III and Queen Camilla received a ceremonial welcome at the White House on Tuesday as their four-day state visit to the United States proceeded despite security concerns following a shooting incident near a Washington press dinner days earlier.
The royals touched down at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Monday afternoon, where they were greeted by United States military personnel and Trump administration officials, before heading to the White House for afternoon tea with President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump.
On Tuesday, Trump and King Charles participated in a formal arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, which included a pass in review of military troops. Trump used the occasion to speak warmly of the alliance between the two nations. “In the centuries since we won our independence, Americans have had no closer friends than the British,” Trump said.
Trump also paid personal tribute to his late Scottish-born mother, saying she would be “glued to the television” whenever Queen Elizabeth II carried out her ceremonial duties, and described being hosted by King Charles at Windsor Castle last year as a “spectacular honor.”
The visit is proceeding despite the shooting outside the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on Saturday night, which prompted the evacuation of Trump and other senior officials from the venue. Security arrangements for the royal visit were adjusted following consultations between British and American authorities.
King Charles is expected to deliver a rare address to Congress, in which he will acknowledge that the two countries do not always agree but have always found ways to work together. He is expected to reference their shared defense and intelligence ties, describing them as measured in decades rather than years.
The visit carries diplomatic weight beyond ceremony. Relations between Washington and London have come under strain over disagreements on the United States’ military engagement in Iran, with Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer clashing publicly over the United Kingdom’s refusal to join the conflict directly.
The trip spans four days and includes engagements in Washington, New York, and Virginia, concluding on Thursday, April 30. It is the first state visit by a British sovereign since Queen Elizabeth II in 2007, and King Charles’s first trip to the United States since ascending the throne.
