King Charles arrives in Washington for state visit fraught with tension

King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived at the White House on Monday for a state visit in Washington, a city still rattled by a weekend shooting and a transatlantic alliance showing fresh signs of strain.British flags could be seen lining lamp-posts outside the White House, where Donald and Melania Trump greeted Charles and Camilla with handshakes. The four appeared to exchange pleasantries and posed for several photographs before heading inside the White House for a private tea.The president and first lady then took the royals on a tour of the newly expanded White House beehive on the south lawn.Charles and Camilla then went to a garden party at the British embassy in Washington, joining Trump administration officials such as treasury secretary Scott Bessent, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, and Medicare and Medicaid administrator Mehmet Oz as waiters served sandwiches that included Scottish smoked salmon and roasted British beef with horseradish.An eager crowd gathered around the king as he moved slowly through the expansive gardens. The guests also included House speaker Mike Johnson, former speaker Nancy Pelosi, Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser, pollster and strategist Kellyanne Conway, Republican senators Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham, Republican congressman Michael McCaul, and former Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin. The convivial atmosphere in warm sunshine gave no hint of a bilateral relationship in crisis.King Charles and Queen Camilla with Donald and Melania Trump in the Green Room of the White House. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/AFP/Getty ImagesThe four-day tour, intended to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence, begins against the backdrop of a diplomatic rift over Trump’s war in Iran and a dramatic security scare at last Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.A gunman opened fire inside the Washington Hilton hotel, prompting Secret Service agents to rush the president from the dais. Officials believe the president and members of his administration were the likely targets and the incident prompted an urgent review of security arrangements before the king’s arrival.For Charles, the posture will be “keep calm and carry on”. Buckingham Palace said the visit would proceed after consultations with US authorities. A spokesperson said: “The King and Queen are most grateful to all those who have worked at pace to ensure this remains the case.”King Charles and Camilla with the president and first lady on the South Lawn. Photograph: Getty ImagesOn Tuesday, the king will speak at a packed state dinner in the White House East Room and give a rare address to the US Congress.The king is set to tell Congress that while the UK and US have not always agreed on everything, the nations’ shared traditions, including “democratic, legal and social traditions” mean that “time and again, our two countries have always found ways to come together”.The monarch’s remarks will be seen as a tacit acknowledgment of the recent transatlantic strains.Charles is also expected to make brief reference to the weekend shooting and offer “the highest regard and friendship of the British people to the people of the United States” on the 250th anniversary of American independence.It is only the second time a British monarch has addressed a joint meeting of Congress, the first being the Queen Elizabeth in 1991.Charles will then travel to New York to visit the September 11 memorial, alongside the New York mayor and rising political star Zohran Mamdani, before concluding in Virginia, where he will meet conservation groups, reflecting a cause he has championed for more than half a century.Some British politicians worry that the king’s soft power mission is fraught with opportunities for embarrassment, with Trump’s recent attacks on Pope Leo XIV intensifying the concerns.Relations between the two allies have been bruised by Trump’s public criticism of Britain’s refusal to back military action against Iran. In recent weeks the president has derided the prime minister, Keir Starmer, as “no Winston Churchill”, while leaked Pentagon discussions about revisiting US support for British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands have deepened unease.Yet Trump, who places an unusual emphasis on the diplomatic role of monarchs in Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East, has carefully separated his admiration for the king from his frustrations with the government. He has repeatedly described Charles as “a great man” and “a friend”, and suggested the royal couple’s presence could help steady relations between the two countries.From left: Queen Camilla, King Charles, Donald Trump and Melania Trump pose for a photo. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/AFP/Getty ImagesChristian Turner, the British ambassador to the US, told CBS’s Face the Nation programme on Sunday: “We had a small difference of opinion in 1776. We’ve been through that. We’ve come a very long way and that, in a way, for me, is what is so enduring about these relationships. It’s that we’ve had differences. Thatcher to Reagan, Roosevelt with Churchill, actually, over how to handle Stalin. These are moments in the relationship that actually it endured because it is so deep on security.”However, the continuing scandal surrounding the king’s younger brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and his links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, have again surfaced ahead of the tour.Ro Khanna, a Democratic congressman, is convening Epstein survivors on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and urging the king to meet them. He said: “The British people have actually been very strong on this Epstein matter, demanding accountability and justice – stronger than the American government in terms of taking action. So the king doesn’t have to get into any details of his brother’s case but it’s just standing with survivors and calling for accountability around the world.”The British journalist Emily Maitlis said on the News Agents podcast she had been told that, until two weeks ago, Queen Camilla was “very keen” to meet victims of Epstein alongside Melania Trump. Maitlis added: “She said, ‘I’ve spent my life fighting for women’s voices, I’ve spent my life fighting for victims, we will find a way to do it.’”But palace officials have made clear there will be no meetings with Epstein survivors during the trip, citing legal concerns over ongoing investigations in the US and Britain.Charles has visited the US 19 times but this is his first state visit to the country since becoming king in 2022. His mother made four state visits to the country.