Joe Biden to make ‘mini state visit’ to UK next month: US president to meet King Charles for first time since missing his coronation on whistlestop trip en route to Nato summit
- US President Joe Biden is set to make a mini ‘state visit’ to Britain next month
- Sources say Mr Biden could pay a visit to King Charles as part of Europe tour
Joe Biden is set to make a mini ‘state visit’ to the UK next month.
Sources on both sides of the Atlantic said the White House is in talks with Buckingham Palace about paying a formal visit to King Charles as part of a mini-tour of Europe planned by the US President.
Negotiations about the exact timing are ongoing, but Mr Biden is expected to visit the UK early next month before heading to the Nato summit in Lithuania on July 11. He is then expected to visit another European destination before returning to Washington DC.
The visit would be the King’s first meeting with the US President since the Coronation, which Mr Biden did not attend.
A full state visit would normally last for three to four days and involve a full-scale banquet at Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle.
Joe Biden is set to make a mini ‘state visit’ to the UK next month
The visit would be the King’s first meeting with the US President since the Coronation, which Mr Biden did not attend
But officials are also looking at the option of a shorter ‘working visit’ – similar to that first undertaken by President Trump when he came to the UK – but still incorporating significant elements involving the Royal Family in order to harness the Royal Family’s famous power of ‘soft diplomacy’.
President Biden would still be greeted with significant pomp and ceremony, involving military ceremonial events and lunch with the King, interspersed with political meetings, including formal talks with Rishi Sunak.
The Prime Minister has already met the US President four times in as many months, most recently when he visited the White House last week, where the two leaders agreed a new deal on economic and security cooperation.
Next month’s visit will give the PM a chance to push the case for Defence Secretary Ben Wallace to be appointed as Nato’s new secretary-general.
The US President described Mr Wallace as ‘very qualified’ to lead Nato last week, saying it was ‘maybe’ time for the alliance to be led by a British politician.
But he warned that a consensus was needed on the next secretary general, a post which must be filled by the autumn.
President Biden would still be greeted with significant pomp and ceremony, involving military ceremonial events and lunch with the King, interspersed with political meetings, including formal talks with Rishi Sunak
The Prime Minister has already met the US President four times in as many months, most recently when he visited the White House last week, where the two leaders agreed a new deal on economic and security cooperation
Some EU leaders are pushing for the next secretary-general to be a woman, with Danish PM Mette Frederiksen and her Lithuanian counterpart Ingrida Simonyte both potential candidates.
Mr Biden’s endorsement is seen as critical in the race, which could be decided at next month’s Nato summit in Vilnius.
If President Biden’s wife Jill accompanies him to London, events will also be organised to highlight her own passions such a literacy, which dovetails with that of Queen Camilla’s.
The First Lady has also formed a bond with the PM’s wife Akshata Murty, with the pair even attending a spin class together after hitting it off at the Coronation.
The Bidens would be more than likely to stay at Winfield House, the American Ambassador’s impressive London home.
Any invitation would officially be extended by the British government.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment.
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