(AFP) – King Charles III was set to pay his respects to fallen US troops at a military cemetery on Thursday, the final day of a state visit aimed at healing ties between Britain and the United States strained by the war in Iran. By all accounts, the four-day visit has been a success, with President Donald Trump rolling out a pomp-filled welcome for Charles and Queen Camilla, including a 21-gun salute, military jet flyby, and lavish white-tie White House banquet.
Charles will lay a wreath late Thursday morning at Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington, then attend a “block party” to mark 250 years since American independence from Britain. The couple will later meet with Native Americans at a national park, before departing for the British island territory of Bermuda in the Atlantic.
The centerpiece of the whirlwind trip was Charles’s speech Tuesday to the US Congress, the first by a British monarch since Queen Elizabeth II in 1991. The address was warmly received, even as Charles ranged over subjects from climate change and the need for restraints on presidential power to the importance of NATO and the defense of Ukraine—sensitive issues for Trump’s Republicans. The 77-year-old monarch skirted around tensions between Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer over Britain’s refusal to join the war against Iran, insisting the partnership between the two countries was “born out of dispute, but no less strong for it.”
The royals visited New York on Wednesday, where they stopped at the 9/11 memorial and met leftist Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Charles, who is passionate about gardening and the environment, later visited an urban sustainable farming project in Harlem, while Camilla celebrated the 100th birthday of Winnie the Pooh at the New York Public Library.
Security has been tight for the royal visit, which came just days after an alleged assassination attempt against Trump at a Washington media gala. The trip has seen light moments between Charles and Trump, including the US president joking that his Scottish-born mother had a crush on the future king when he was younger.
© 2024 AFP
