King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrived in the United States at the personal invitation of President Donald Trump on Monday afternoon, greeted on the tarmac by a military honour guard.
A party of U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard personnel formed up on the hard at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Monday afternoon to greet British monarch King Charles III and the Queen Consort Camilla for a four-day state visit.
The invitation for the Royal couple to come to Washington D.C. was made by President Trump after his state visit to Windsor Castle last year, and forms part of Britain’s contribution to the celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
The red carpet was rolled out for the King and Queen after their Royal Air Force jet came to a halt. The aircraft, which bears the Royal cypher of Charles III, flew the Royal Standard and the U.S. Stars and Stripes from a special folding flag pole deployed from the flight deck as it taxied towards the welcoming party.
The Royal pair met dignitaries with UK Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper and Britain’s new ambassador to Washington, Sir Christian Turner, and stood to attention for a rendition of the national anthems of the two nations played by a U.S. Air Force ceremonial band.
JOINT BASE ANDREWS, MD – APRIL 27: Britain’s King Charles III walks to his limousine as he arrives on day one of their State Visit to the United States on April 27, 2026 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. The visit will include stops at the nation’s capital, New York City, and Virginia, arranged to celebrate the United States of America’s 250th anniversary of its independence. (Photo by Henry Nicholls-Pool/Getty Images)
The Royal Party was then carried into Washington by a 29-vehicle motorcade, which The Daily Telegraph states included a fire engine and an ambulance. The Royals are scheduled to be hosted for afternoon tea by President Trump, and will then host a grand 650-guest garden party at the historic British embassy tonight.
In the coming days, the Trump family are to welcome the Royals to the White House for the official state banquet — the apex of the visit — where President Trump and King Charles will exchange speeches, as they did in Windsor Castle last year. King Charles has also been invited to address a joint session of Congress, as his late mother Queen Elizabeth II did in 1991.
King Charles is also expected to travel to New York and meet Mayor Zohran Mamdani for a September 11th memorial event on Wednesday.
The visit comes just hours after an apparent assassination attempt against President Trump and senior members of his executive team. As reported, the security services of both countries held last-minute meetings in the wake of the attack to ensure the trip could still go ahead. President Trump has praised King Charles as “brave” for deciding to not cancel.
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