King Charles state visit to US confirmed to go ahead in April

After weeks of speculation over whether the state visit would go ahead, Buckingham Palace has confirmed it will.

Full details of the itinerary are yet to be confirmed, but it will include the royals attending a state dinner at the White House and King Charles delivering an address to Congress.

It will be the first UK state visit to the US since Queen Elizabeth II’s in 2007, and will celebrate the US’s 250th anniversary of independence.

On the way back, the King will visit the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, the BBC reports.

The visit has been in the pipeline for months, but in recent weeks there have been calls for the trip to be cancelled in the wake of Trump’s war in Iran and comments he has made about prime minister Keir Starmer.

This has included him saying Starmer “is not Winston Churchill,” attacking him for the Chagos Island deal initially backed by Trump’s administration, criticising the prime minister’s leadership style and accusing Starmer of ruining the special relationship between the US and the UK.

The likes of Lib Dem leader Ed Davey and former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas have both called for the trip to be cancelled, arguing it would be an endorsement of Trump’s actions in the Middle East.

Throughout March, Trump has caused global chaos with his war in the Middle East, sending oil prices rocketing and sparking fears of a global energy crisis.

He has also hit out at Western allies, including the UK, for not supporting him in the conflict.

Less than an hour before Charles and Camilla’s state visit was confirmed, Trump launched his latest jibe at the UK.

He wrote in a post on Truth Social that countries “like the United Kingdom” who can’t get jet fuel because of the effective blockade in the Strait of Hormuz should “build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT”.

Trump went on to say countries will ““have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us,” and called out nations “which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran”.

“Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done,” the post added, ending with: “Go get your own oil!”