More than 19 years have passed since the last British state visit to the United States, and on Monday, King Charles III and Queen Camilla touched down at Maryland’s Andrews Air Force Base to kick off a four-day diplomatic mission focused on mending strained transatlantic relations and reinforcing shared democratic values.
The royal couple was greeted on the tarmac by senior U.S. protocol official Monica Crowley, British Ambassador to the U.S. Sir Christian Turner, and other high-ranking dignitaries. Two local children presented the pair with bouquets, before a military band performed both the British and American national anthems to mark the formal start of the visit. From the airbase, the delegation traveled directly to the White House, where President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed the royals on the building’s iconic South Portico, where ongoing renovation work is currently underway.
Following the formal welcome, the visitors joined the Trumps for tea in the White House Green Room, before touring the grounds to view a newly expanded beehive shaped like a miniature White House. The customized installation was a deliberate nod to King Charles’ longstanding public advocacy for bee conservation and sustainable beekeeping, a small personal touch woven into official diplomatic programming.
This state visit, organized at the request of the UK government, comes as the United States prepares to mark its 250th anniversary of independence, and is framed as a deliberate soft power push to strengthen bilateral ties that have been tested in recent months. Tensions have flared between the Trump administration and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government over the UK’s refusal to deepen military involvement in the ongoing Iran conflict, creating a rocky backdrop for the diplomatic talks.
In a nod to shared transatlantic history, Queen Camilla wore a historic union jack-stars and stripes brooch originally gifted to Queen Elizabeth II by the Mayor of New York during a 1957 state visit. That 1957 trip was itself a mission to rebuild UK-U.S. relations after the 1956 Suez Crisis split the two allies over Middle East policy, making the brooch a quiet symbolic reference to past diplomatic reconciliations.
After their White House stop, the royal couple traveled to the British Embassy in Washington D.C. for a garden party hosting more than 600 guests with cross-Atlantic ties, drawn from political, scientific, charitable and military circles. Even the menu carried diplomatic weight: the beef served in traditional tea sandwiches came from the first batch of tariff-free British beef imported to the U.S. under a recently finalized bilateral trade agreement. Attendees included former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Ted Cruz, and UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.
Queen Camilla dedicated a significant portion of her time at the garden party to meeting with women’s advocacy leaders working to combat domestic abuse. Sandra Jackson, a representative of U.S.-based support organization House of Ruth, which aids survivors of domestic violence, spoke after the meeting about the Queen’s longstanding commitment to the cause. “It’s very important to have such advocates and it’s a cause very close to her heart,” Jackson said, adding that she respected the royal household’s decision not to arrange a meeting with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, a choice made to avoid interfering with ongoing legal proceedings related to the case. Michelle DeLaune, another anti-domestic abuse campaigner in attendance, noted that high-profile royal engagement on the issue marked meaningful progress in elevating public awareness of the crisis.
Heading into the second day of the visit on Tuesday, King Charles is set to become the first British monarch to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress since Queen Elizabeth II spoke to lawmakers in 1991. The address comes just days after a shooting at a Washington D.C. event attended by President Trump, and royal sources confirm the King will open his remarks by expressing sympathy for the victims of the attack. Heavy security remains in place across the city following the Saturday incident.
In his prepared remarks, the King is expected to acknowledge current policy disagreements between the U.S. and UK, while emphasizing that the two allies have a long history of overcoming differences to work together. He will call for reconciliation and renewal of the bilateral partnership, and urge joint action to defend shared values of tolerance, liberty and equality. Royal sources say the King will frame the transatlantic alliance as rooted in a commitment to compassion, peace, interfaith understanding, and mutual respect, and will reaffirm British commitment to NATO collective defense and support for Ukraine in its war against Russian invasion.
After the congressional address, the visit will continue with a formal ceremonial military welcome at the White House, followed by a state dinner hosted by President Trump that will bring together political leaders and public figures from both nations.