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White House Begins Preparations for King Charles and Queen Camilla’s US Visit

King Charles and Queen Camilla will visit the United States for four days later this month.

State visits are one of the most prestigious events in global politics, marked by ceremonial welcomes, state banquets, and several other carefully planned engagements that highlight the deep relations between two nations. King Charles and Queen Camilla are now preparing for one such special occasion, as they get ready to travel to the United States later this month. The visit is expected to include several high-profile meetings between the royal couple and US officials. Meanwhile, it has now been revealed that the White House has also begun preparations for the highly anticipated, yet controversial, state visit.

A few days ago, the official X (formerly Twitter) account of the First Lady, Melania Trump, shared a short black and white teaser video, showing the behind-the-scenes of White House preparations, with Melania going through papers and discussing with staff about how she wants the visit to go. The caption of the post read, "Precision in every detail," along with the emojis of the American and British flags and the date of the state dinner, April 28. As reported by the Daily Mail, the state banquet is set to be hosted inside the White House, most likely in either the East Room or the State Dining Room.

Previously, there had been widespread speculation that Donald and Melania might host the British royals at an off-site venue in Washington, given the ongoing ballroom construction at the White House. However, the US President has seized the opportunity to promote his proposed idea of constructing a White House ballroom, and criticized the past administrations for hosting state dinners in tents on the South Lawn. For instance, during her July 1976 state visit, Queen Elizabeth II was hosted by President Gerald Ford, with her state dinner being organized under a tent in the White House Rose Garden.

While speaking to the media, Trump previously said, "Many of you have gone to the tent when we have a president of a big country or somebody being honored with a great distinction, and they sit in a tent, and if it rains, you get soaked, because the grass gets wet here very fast." He then mentioned Charles and Camilla's upcoming visit and said, "We don't want him to sit in a pool of water." Meanwhile, it's worth noting that state visits aren’t a break from underlying issues; instead, they bring them into focus.

This upcoming US state visit is especially controversial as the King and the Queen are meeting a president who has been involved in military action against Iran in recent times. Speaking of this, Craig Prescott, a constitutional expert, said, "There's been a lot of discussion here, given what's happening in Iran, given what Trump is saying about the U.K. ... whether it's appropriate for the King to go or not." As reported by CBC, he added, "You might think that Starmer's schmoozing strategy in a sense has perhaps failed, but there seems to be a decision made by the U.K. government that although Trump is doing all this, it's still in Britain's interest to remain close with the United States."