King Charles III will host former President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for a state visit to the United Kingdom from Sept. 17–19, Buckingham Palace announced in July, setting the stage for a programme of formal ceremonies, a state banquet and symbolic displays intended to reinforce the long-standing U.S.-U.K. relationship.
The visit will be staged at Windsor Castle and will include a royal salute, a carriage procession, a luncheon with members of the royal family, a wreath-laying at St. George’s Chapel on the queen’s tomb and a flypast by U.K. and U.S. F-35 jets alongside the Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows, according to palace and royal household descriptions of typical state-visit events. Trump is the first U.S. president to be invited for two state visits by a British monarch; the late Queen Elizabeth II hosted him and the first lady in 2019.
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, said the visit will be presented with the ‘‘full pomp and pageantry’’ associated with British state occasions and described it as an exercise in the monarchy’s ‘‘soft power.’’ She emphasized the constitutional limits on the sovereign’s political role, saying the king will not comment on political matters but that the visit will be intended to strengthen ties between the two countries.
Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, will meet the American guests and accompany them to see the king and queen consort, palace officials said. A royal salute will be fired from Windsor’s east lawn and from the Tower of London as the formal welcome proceeds. Seward said the lunch may include ‘‘as many of the royal family as the king can pull together,’’ and that the state banquet typically invites about 150 guests chosen for cultural, diplomatic or economic links to the visiting country.
Darren McGrady, a former royal chef to Queen Elizabeth II and members of the royal household, said precise menu planning is treated as a matter of protocol and presentation. He said menus for state banquets usually stress indigenous British produce such as lamb, venison and estate salmon and that the kitchen works closely with the foreign office and the monarch’s household to address preferences and allergies.
McGrady said King Charles’s tastes tend toward cheese and organic produce and that dishes like wild mushrooms and lamb are likely to feature, whereas the late queen avoided strong garlic and onion dishes. When France’s President Emmanuel Macron visited in July, a French chef was brought in to collaborate on the state menu; it is not yet known whether any American culinary input will be invited for the Trump visit.
State-visit programming also includes official meetings. The president will meet the prime minister and view the Sir Winston Churchill archives, followed by a joint news conference, palace sources said. On the Thursday of the visit the first lady will visit Frogmore Gardens with the Princess of Wales to meet volunteers and members of the Scouts’ Squirrels nature-based programme; the first lady will also accompany the president to Chequers before returning to the United States.
The formal invitation for a state visit — historically described as a manu regia when issued — is extended on the advice of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Buckingham Palace said in its announcement that ‘‘His Majesty has known President Trump for many years and looks forward to hosting him and the First Lady later this year.’’
The royal household has frequently included public figures from cultural and civic life among state-banquet guests. Seward noted that entertainers have attended past banquets and suggested high-profile British artists and others with ties to the royal family may be on the guest list, though the names are customarily kept confidential until the event.
The visit will be King Charles’s first state visit hosting Mr. Trump since his coronation in 2023 and follows a program of diplomatic hosting that palace aides and royal-watch commentators say aims to reaffirm the ‘‘special relationship’’ between the two countries through ceremonial and bilateral engagements. The palace and organisers declined to release a detailed guest list or the precise banquet menu ahead of the visit.