King Charles to visit US amid fraying ties
King Charles III heads to the United States on Monday with transatlantic tensions over the Iran war and the Epstein scandal’s long shadow threatening to intrude on the landmark visit.
Both Buckingham Palace and the British government have said the four‑day trip will honor the historic relationship between the two countries as the United States marks 250 years of independence.
Charles’s first US state visit as monarch comes at the request of the UK government and President Donald Trump and will be made with Queen Camilla, according to the palace.
However, as the American leader’s war with Iran drives a rare wedge between London and Washington, it has generated considerable controversy.
Public criticism
Trump has repeatedly lambasted 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 turn, Starmer has stepped up his public criticism of the war, while stressing the breadth and depth of UK-US ties in defending the state visit. An early April YouGov poll found 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 members of parliament when asked why the trip was going ahead.
Trump—a vocal admirer of the royals whose mother was Scottish—told the BBC on Thursday the visit could “absolutely” help repair relations, praising the king as “fantastic.”
The United Kingdom’s freshly appointed ambassador to the United States Christian Turner, whose predecessor Peter Mandelson was dismissed last year after revelations about his ties to Epstein, said the state visit was “important” for the countries’ ties.
The king’s relationship with the president “is a very personal one, the deep affection and respect they hold,” Turner told NBC News.
Charles, 77, showcased his diplomatic skills during Trump’s state visit to Britain last September, with Royal Holloway University of London monarchy expert Craig Prescott noting he is “generally very good” at navigating such occasions.
Major crisis
Meanwhile, the scandal around late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatens to encroach on the highly choreographed tour.
Only photographers will capture Tuesday’s Oval Office meeting between Trump and Charles, limiting chances for the king to be blindsided by the unpredictable US leader and reporters.
Charles and Camilla will visit New York on Wednesday, touring the 9/11 memorial, before departing Thursday for Bermuda for his first visit to a British overseas territory as monarch.
Charles has faced a major crisis over the friendship his brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, previously known as prince Andrew, had with the late billionaire, who died in prison in 2019.
The long-standing controversy intensified after Andrew was arrested in mid-February following new revelations over their links.
The king, who stripped his disgraced brother of his titles in October, said “the law must take its course” in a rare personally signed statement.
Andrew, who remains under police investigation, has not been charged and has denied any wrongdoing.
Several US lawmakers have unsuccessfully urged the ex-prince to testify before Congress about Epstein.
