Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, and Camilla Officially Welcome President Trump to Buckingham Palace
Britain treated President Trump to a welcome full of pomp and pageantry today as he arrived to begin his three-day state visit. The Queen was joined by Prince Charles and Camilla as she greeted the U.S. President and First Lady at Buckingham Palace with a full-scale ceremonial welcome this morning.
Trump is just the third U.S. President to be afforded the honor of a U.K. state visit following George W. Bush in 2003 and Barack Obama in 2011. Such trips are intended to strengthen ties between countries; however, several British politicians have been vocal about their displeasure at the trip and protests are planned.
The President and First Lady touched down in Marine One at 12:10 p.m. local time in the gardens of the Queen’s central London residence to clear skies and sunshine. Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall greeted them at the foot of the helicopter before waking them up the West Terrace Steps to the palace doorway leading to the Bow Room to be greeted by the Queen.
Both Camilla and Melania were dressed in white for the occasion, with the Duchess wearing an Anna Valentine dress and Philip Tracy hat. The Queen looked serene in a jade A-line coat and matching hat by Rachel Trevor-Morgan. She accessorized with an emerald, diamond and pearl brooch. President Trump’s daughter Ivanka, who was also wearing white, and her husband Jared Kushner joined officials watching from the balconies overlooking the garden as the Guard of Honour began to assemble.
Gun salutes fired to mark the visit could be heard from the palace grounds. The two 41-gun salutes were fired simultaneously in the Green Park by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery and at the Tower of London by the Honourable Artillery Company. These were followed by a second salute to commemorate the anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation which was June 2, meaning there were 185 guns fired in London for the two events.
State visits to Britain usually begin with a ceremonial welcome in Horse Guards Parade followed by a carriage procession down the Mall to Buckingham Palace; however, previous U.S. presidents have been welcomed at the palace instead due to security concerns and President Trump’s welcome followed suit.
Instead, the Guard of Honour, formed by Nijmegen Company Grenadier Guards, assembled on the palace’s West Lawn to give a royal salute. The Band of the Grenadier Guards, supported by the Corps of Drums of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, performed the U.S. and U.K. National Anthems. The President, accompanied by the Prince of Wales, inspected the Guard of Honour while The Queen chatted with the First Lady and Camilla at the top of the steps.
“Our armed forces have trained and fought alongside American troops for over a century and no two countries work more closely together on defence cooperation,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement about the military welcome.
President Trump previously visited the U.K. in July 2018 and had tea with the Queen at Windsor Castle, but a state visit is a much grander and more formal affair. He will be treated to a state banquet in the Buckingham Palace Ballroom this evening which the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will attend and the female royals will wear tiaras.
Following the welcome, the Queen is hosting a private lunch for the Trumps at the palace which is attended by Prince Harry. His wife Meghan will not participate in the visit as she is on maternity leave.
Just a few hours before his arrival into the U.K., Trump took to Twitter to deny calling the Duchess of Sussex “nasty” despite the fact that he was recorded in an interview with The Sun newspaper saying, “I didn't know that she was nasty.” His comments were made in response to being told by the newspaper’s political editor Tom Newton Dunn, referring to an interview Meghan gave in 2016 before she joined the royal family. “She said she’d move to Canada if you got elected,” Dunn said.
Later today the President and Mrs. Trump, accompanied by the Duke of York, will visit Westminster Abbey, where the President will lay a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior. They will then join Prince Charles and Camilla for tea at Clarence House. This evening the Queen and President Trump will both make speeches at the banquet.
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