LONDON and WASHINGTON — Four years after ascending to the British throne, King Charles III kicks off his first official state visit to the United States on Monday, launching a high-stakes diplomatic journey that unfolds against simmering transatlantic rifts over the Iran war and just 48 hours after a shooting at a gala attended by US President Donald Trump.
The four-day itinerary, planned to celebrate the centuries-long special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States as America marks its 250th anniversary of independence, brings King Charles and Queen Camilla across three stops across North America. After opening their schedule in Washington D.C., the royal couple will travel to New York City on Wednesday to pay respects at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, before concluding their trip with a visit to Bermuda — Charles’s first trip to a British Overseas Territory as head of state, scheduled for Thursday.
This trip makes history too: Charles will become the first reigning British monarch to address a joint meeting of the US Congress since his mother Queen Elizabeth II spoke to the legislative body in 1991. In addition to the congressional address, the itinerary includes a tea reception and formal state dinner hosted by President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump.
The visit proceeds as planned despite the shooting incident Saturday night at the White House Correspondents’ Association annual gala, the event attended by President Trump. Law enforcement took an alleged lone gunman into custody immediately after the attack, which left one US Secret Service agent wounded. No harm came to President Trump, the first lady or any other attendees.
Buckingham Palace confirmed Sunday that the state visit would not be delayed or canceled, and noted that King Charles expressed profound relief that all senior figures at the gala escaped uninjured. UK Ambassador to the United States Christian Turner told reporters in Washington Sunday evening that after extensive security reviews between British and US authorities, “we are all very confident that all appropriate security measures are in place” to protect the royal party throughout the trip.
While logistics are confirmed, the trip has been mired in controversy from the start, driven by a sharp public rift between the Trump administration and Keir Starmer’s UK Labour government over the ongoing conflict with Iran. President Trump has publicly lambasted Prime Minister Starmer for his opposition to the war, and has also criticized London’s policies on immigration and domestic energy production.
The two leaders spoke by phone on Sunday, where Starmer offered his well-wishes to Trump in the wake of the shooting. Beyond security, their discussion centered on one of the core points of contention: the disruption to global shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. A statement from Starmer’s office noted the pair agreed on “the urgent need to get shipping moving again” amid the severe fallout for the global economy and household cost of living on both sides of the Atlantic.
Though Starmer has stood by his public criticism of the Iran war, he has defended the decision to move forward with the state visit, even as an early April YouGov poll found 48 percent of British respondents support canceling the trip. Responding to questions from members of parliament, Starmer argued that the British monarchy’s unique longstanding cross-border bonds let it navigate diplomatic rifts that divide elected governments. President Trump echoed that optimism, telling the BBC last week that the visit could “absolutely” help repair frayed bilateral ties, and told Fox News Sunday that “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.”
At 77, King Charles has a long track record of deft diplomatic maneuvering, a skill he displayed when hosting Trump during the US president’s 2024 state visit to the UK last September. Craig Prescott, a monarchy studies expert at Royal Holloway University of London, observed that the king is “generally very good” at navigating tense political moments. Even so, Prescott expects Charles will only address the divisive Iran conflict — the widely acknowledged “elephant in the room” for the trip — through coded language during his congressional address Tuesday.
Another lingering controversy threatens to intrude on the carefully choreographed tour: the ongoing scandal surrounding Prince Andrew, the king’s younger brother, and his longstanding ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The 76-year-old disgraced royal was arrested in mid-February following new unsealed court documents detailing his connections to Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. King Charles stripped Andrew of all his honorary titles and royal patronages back in 2022, and released a rare public statement signed in his own hand after the arrest saying “the law must take its course.” Andrew remains under active investigation, has not been charged with any crime, and has repeatedly denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
To avoid unscripted, off-the-cuff moments that could draw unwanted attention to the scandal or the current bilateral tensions, the entire trip has been planned with extreme precision. For example, only still photographers will be allowed to cover Tuesday’s Oval Office meeting between King Charles and President Trump, with no press question-and-answer session scheduled.