King Charles anticipated visit to US faces major setback

King Charles’ visit to the US might be delayed due to the tensions that are going on between UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer and the President of America, Donald Trump, as per government officials. 

This comes in the wake of the war going on between Israel, US and Iran, but the plans for the royal visit had been drawn up before the conflict started.

King Charles and Queen Camilla were scheduled to land in Washington at the end of next month, for a three-day visit, which would have also coincided with America’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

However, as per Daily Mail, a Whitehall source, who is involved with the planning of the trip said there had been a last-minute “wobble” about signing off the plans after President Trump described Sir Keir as “not Winston Churchill”.

Since the plans were first drawn up, in the wake of Trump’s state visit to Britain last September, the President has since then, included Britain in new trade tariffs, criticised it for giving up the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and claimed that British troops avoided the frontline in Afghanistan.

These statements were deemed as “insulting and frankly appalling” by Sir Keir.

The source said: “The plans were first put on pause in early February. Apart from everything else, there has been a noticeable lack of progress on the technology-related trade deals which were agreed during Trump’s visit.”

They continued, “Shouldn’t we be getting more bang for the King’s buck? Now it is being argued that maybe the visit should wait until all the tensions have died down and he can “mop up” after.”

“The pomp and ceremony could also feel incongruous and insensitive if the Middle East is still ablaze,” the insider concluded.

Additionally, Prince William would be visiting the US in July to mark both the Fourth of July celebrations and the football World Cup in US, Canada and Mexico.

Insiders have revealed that this is a trip which Trump is “most excited about” because he regards William and Kate as “the real rock stars of the Royal Family”.

As for King Charles’ proposed visit, a US source said, “It is getting very late for these details to be formalised. Apart from a Day 1 in Washington and a Day 2 in New York, no timetable seems to have been put together yet”.

They also mentioned that the arrest of the King’s brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein – a former Trump associate – had contributed to the sense of “jeopardy” over the visit.

The proposed visit might be a “slimmed down” three days, which would be half the length of Queen Elizabeth’s 1976 bicentennial tour.

Previously, royal insider said: “Planning and preparation has been under way for a possible visit in the late spring, but the Government has the final say”.

While a Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “No state visit has been confirmed and all state visits happen on the advice of Government”.

Finally, a No 10 source said: “This is a matter for Buckingham Palace”.