In April, the White House was under pressure to explain why President Joe Biden did not attend the coronation of King Charles III. would attend in London.
Was it a snub from the notoriously pro-Irish President?
Not at all, said his spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre. The two heads of state had just spoken on the phone and very soon the king had invited the president for a state visit.
But when Biden visits London next month, it will be a trip embedded in a European recovery centered on a NATO summit. There will be no banquet at Buckingham Palace or an 82-gun salute like four years ago when President Donald Trump was given the honor of a full state visit.
can reveal that an invitation to a state visit was never extended when Biden spoke with King Charles.
President Joe Biden will meet King Charles III during a visit to the UK next month, according to a US official. meet, but the trip will not be a “state visit”.
Instead, the president is expected to spend less than 24 hours in London before flying on to Vilnius, Lithuania, to meet with NATO allies.
A full state visit would normally last around four days. And you need a year of planning instead of a three-month lead time.
“There was never an invitation for a state visit,” said a London source. “It was about avoiding headlines about Biden’s rejection of Charles over the coronation and showing that the two had a decent relationship.”
“And the White House managed to screw it up.”
A US official confirmed that Biden would still meet with King Charles.
Meanwhile, British officials have taken action to stem further headlines over Biden’s snubs and spare the White House further blushing.
London newspapers are now calling the trip a “mini state visit”.
But the reduced visit will again raise the question of whether Biden is anti-British. During a trip in April he spent less than 24 hours in Britain’s Northern Ireland before spending the majority of his time in the Republic of Ireland.
He sparked outrage when he joked he was visiting to make sure Brits weren’t “tinkering” with the Good Friday Agreement that ended decades of violence.
This will be the first time Biden has met Charles since his coronation in May. However, they have met before. They are seen here in 2021 during the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow
Biden’s visit contrasts with President Donald Trump’s state visit in 2019, when he was treated to the full pageantry of the British royal family, including a banquet at Buckingham Palace
The Bidens also met the late Queen in 2021 when the G7 summit was held in Cornwall, UK
And his government has dashed any immediate prospect of a US-UK deal, which London had sought after leaving the European Union’s single market.
Then there was his decision not to go to the coronation. Jean-Pierre was asked on April 5 why Biden sent the first lady in his place.
She responded by describing the cordial nature of a 30-minute phone call between the two the day before.
“He talked about how he enjoyed meeting the Queen, I should say, in 2021 … him and the First Lady in Windsor.” And he was hoping to visit him again soon,” she said.
“Indeed, during that call, the king offered him to come on a state visit, which the president accepted.” And so they will meet again very soon.’
But the official announcement of the call to the White House said neither an invitation nor a state visit.
Instead, it said: “The President also expressed his wish to meet with the King in the United Kingdom at a later date.”
Insiders say the Biden visit may be more like Trump’s 2018 visit, which included less formal meetings with the Queen and other royals
A senior US official confirmed that the trip would not be a state visit.
“POTUS will have an appointment with the King on his next trip to the UK, as we announced earlier this year, but it will not be a state visit,” they said, using an abbreviation for “President of the United States”.
Biden is also expected to meet with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The full splendor of the British royal family, on the other hand, was on display when Trump paid a state visit in June 2019.
His visit lasted three days and he was invited to a state banquet at Buckingham Palace, where guests dined on steamed halibut with watercress mousse and rack of lamb.
Foreign leaders are also frequently invited to stay at Buckingham Palace, although the guest rooms were being renovated at the time of Trump’s visit.
Biden’s visit may be more similar to Trump’s trip a year earlier when he had more informal meetings with British royals.