In some ways, King Charles III, US President Donald Trump’s host, will be repaying a nearly 37-year-old favour when he arrives at Windsor Castle on Wednesday. He will be in a royal carriage escorted by horseback riders and honoured by three different military bands.
Trump hosted the then-Prince of Wales for tea at his Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida, estate, in 1988. Even though Charles chose to stay at a horse ranch a few miles away instead of spending the night at Trump’s club, the visit gave the real estate developer the royal seal of approval.
As a long-time admirer of the British royal family, Trump’s state visit to the UK this week presents a comparable chance: a seal of approval from some of the few people he has true and, thus far, unchanging regard for, accompanied by honour guards and a state banquet.
During a July trip to Scotland, Trump remarked, “I hate to say it, but nobody does it like you people in terms of the pomp and ceremony.”
“Windsor is supposed to be amazing,” he said on Sunday.
In the early weeks of Trump’s second term, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived at the White House with Charles’ invitation, keenly aware of the US president’s penchant for ceremony and royalty. Starmer hoped to use the royal connections to soften relations with a political foe at a delicate diplomatic moment.
The move was carried out by Starmer, the second prime minister of the UK to do so. Before him, one of his predecessors, Theresa May, did essentially the same thing in the first few days of Trump’s first term but the visit happened only two years later. May resigned three days after the visit ended.
This time around, Trump’s state visit to the UK to be hosted by a different sovereign, with a different prime minister, and meet at a different royal residence (Buckingham Palace is under a multiyear renovation). US presidents in their second term are usually not given the pomp of another state visit.
“This has never happened before; this is unprecedented,” Starmer said in the Oval Office in February.
“Am I supposed to read it right now?” Trump asked, before reading the invitation from Charles in silence. Eventually, after some awkwardness, he responded: “The answer is yes.”
Schedule of Trump’s UK state visit
Ahead of Trump’s second historic state visit to the UK, a “very high threat level” has been declared at Windsor Castle on Tuesday. The US president will arrive in the UK on Tuesday night, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump. But according to a schedule released by Buckingham Palace, the pageantry starts on Wednesday.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince William and Kate Middleton, who represent the future of the royal family, will welcome Trump and Melania as they arrive at the grounds of Windsor Castle, which is located just outside of London.
Trump was impressed with William during their most recent meeting, which took place in December at the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. After that, the then president-elect reflected, “He’s a good-looking guy. Some people look better in person? He looked great.”
After a royal salute is fired from Windsor Castle’s grounds, the Trumps will greet Charles and Queen Camilla. With horses and riders by their sides and military bands along the route, they will get into their carriages and go across the Windsor estate in the direction of the castle.
Trump and Melania will spend some time in the Green Drawing Room seeing items from the Royal Collection following extensive troop inspections and lunch with the entire royal family. In St. George’s Chapel, they will place a wreath at Queen Elizabeth II’s tomb. The main event, a state banquet at Windsor Castle, will take place in the evening.
The fanfare will also be extended to Melania, who will accompany Kate on Thursday for a scouting event on the castle grounds after touring Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House and the Royal Library at Windsor Castle with Camilla. Kate presence is significant because her star power highlights the UK’s larger diplomatic endeavour to forge strong ties with the Trump administration.
The pomp and pageantry
Trump’s meeting with the British royal family is more of pomp and show as they avoid discussing politics thus any overt discussion of the topic will be disallowed.
On Thursday, however, Trump will drive to Chequers, the prime minister’s country home in Buckinghamshire, for a business meeting with Starmer.
According to a US official, they will be accompanied by several technology CEOs who will be present to announce new tech partnerships and unveil tens of billions of dollars in new investments.
Despite their political differences, Trump and Starmer have managed to establish a cordial rapport. The acrimony that often marred even some of Trump’s most successful meetings with his counterparts has not been present in their discussions.
“We’ve become friends in a short period of time. He’s slightly more liberal than I am,” Trump had said during their meeting at the G7 summit in Canada.
Even as other nations frantically negotiated strategies to avoid sweeping tariffs for weeks, Starmer was able to swiftly achieve one of his main goals with Trump: a new trade agreement.
However, some of the details are still up for debate or are not finalised, just like many of Trump’s declared trade agreements. However, Starmer announced on Monday of a nuclear energy deal between the US and the UK, which will facilitate the construction of new power plants in both nations.
Despite hours of phone conversations and meetings, Starmer’s close relationship with Trump has also not succeeded in bringing the US president closer to Europe’s stance on the war in Ukraine. Despite pressure from Starmer and other European leaders to act, Trump has refrained from imposing additional sanctions on Russia.
During the private discussions between them and subsequent joint press appearance on Thursday, these topics will undoubtedly come up.
Trump’s love for the British royal family
One of Trump’s first memories is of his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, who was born in Scotland, sitting enthralled watching the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on television.
Trump inherited the love of royal spectacle from his mother. He has spent a large portion of his adult life either observing the Windsors from a distance or trying to make friends with them.
One of the highlights of his first term was his first state visit to the UK in 2019.
“Meeting Queen Elizabeth II was particularly important to President Trump. A meeting with the Queen of England was the ultimate sign that he, Trump, had made it in life,” Fiona Hill, an adviser in Trump’s first term, wrote in her 2021 memoir.
Trump, according to several biographies, spread rumours that the prince and his then-wife, Princess Diana, were wanting to buy an apartment in Trump Tower, at the time that he welcomed Charles at Mar-a-Lago.
Additionally, according to Diana’s friend, former British TV anchor Selina Scott, Trump showered the newly single princess with bouquets of flowers at her Kensington Palace residence after the couple divorced in 1996.
“I’m a big fan of King Charles. I’ve known him for quite a while. Great guy, great person,” Trump said in July.