King Charles III travels to the United States on Monday, with transatlantic tensions over the Iran conflict and the Epstein scandal’s long shadow threatening to overshadow the historic meeting.
Buckingham Palace and the British government say the four-day trip will honor the historic ties between the two countries as the US celebrates 250 years of independence.
According to the palace, Charles’s first state visit to the United States as monarch is at the invitation of the UK government and President Donald Trump, and he will travel with Queen Camilla.
However, as the American leader’s conflict with Iran creates a rare schism between London and Washington, it has sparked widespread criticism.
Trump has repeatedly berated British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his war opposition, alongside his government’s immigration and energy policies.
“This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with,” Trump grumbled in March, adding the so-called special relationship was “not like it used to be.” The American leader has also mocked the perceived state of Britain’s armed forces—of which the king is commander-in-chief.
In response, Starmer has increased his public condemnation of the war while emphasizing the breadth and depth of UK-US ties in support of the state visit. A YouGov poll conducted in early April revealed that 48 percent of Britons support canceling it.
“Often what the monarchy is able to do, through the bonds that they build, is reach through the decades in a situation like this,” Starmer told MPs when asked why the trip was going ahead.
Trump, a vociferous supporter of the royals whose mother was Scottish, told the BBC on Thursday that the visit could “absolutely” help restore relations, describing the monarch as “fantastic.”
Christian Turner, the UK’s newly appointed ambassador to the US, said the state visit was “important” for the nations’ relations. His predecessor, Peter Mandelson, was fired last year amid disclosures about his ties to Epstein.
The king’s relationship with the president “is a very personal one, the deep affection and respect they hold,” Turner informed NBC News.
Charles, 77, demonstrated his diplomatic abilities during Trump’s state visit to Britain last September, with Royal Holloway University of London monarchy expert Craig Prescott stating that he is “generally very good” at navigating such circumstances.
Prescott stated that the independence anniversary gave a great “get out” for the British side to say that the trip is “not about Keir Starmer and Donald Trump, per se.”
However, he acknowledged it was “that little bit closer to politics” than usual, and Charles would likely address the “very big elephant in the room” in a coded way in his speech Tuesday to the US Congress.
The first British monarch to address Congress since his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, in 1991, he will highlight the two countries’ shared history and close connections, according to the palace.
“He might refer to how the special relationship has perhaps waxed and waned over time,” Prescott predicted, arguing Charles has proven to be a “better speaker” than his mother.
However, Graham Smith of the anti-monarchy advocacy organization Republic warned that the king will “go through the rituals without offering anything of substance.”
The only thing that matters “about this pointless trip is how Trump behaves,” he remarked on X.
Meanwhile, the scandal involving late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatens to disrupt the highly orchestrated tour.
Charles has faced a serious issue regarding his brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew,’s association with the late billionaire, who died in prison in 2019.
The long-running scandal erupted after Andrew was arrested in mid-February, following additional discoveries about their connections.
In a rare personally signed statement, the king, who stripped his disgraced brother of his titles in October, stated that “the law must take its course.”
Andrew, who is still under police investigation, has not been charged and denies any wrongdoing.
Several US lawmakers have unsuccessfully pressed the former prince to appear before Congress on Epstein.
In March, Democrat Ro Khanna wrote to Charles, urging that the king meet with victims discreetly, while the family of late Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre made a similar demand.
Palace sources have warned UK media that a meeting “will not be possible,” citing that it could “impact (police) investigations or the proper course of the law.”
This month, Khanna told The Times that rejecting it would make Charles appear “out of touch” and “diminishes the credibility of the monarchy for future generations.”
However, he noted that in his Congress address, honoring the survivors and their battle for justice “would go a long way.”
The royals’ visit, which includes tea with Trump and first wife Melania and a state banquet, looks to have been precisely arranged to avoid unexpected moments.
Only photographers will cover Tuesday’s Oval Office encounter between Trump and Charles, reducing the possibility of the king being caught off guard by the unpredictable US president and reporters.
Charles and Camilla will visit New York on Wednesday to attend the 9/11 memorial before heading for Bermuda on Thursday, their first visit to a British foreign territory as king.
