The state visit of British monarch King Charles III to the United States will go ahead as planned this week, US President Donald Trump said on Sunday.
The attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday briefly cast doubt on the state visit, as additional security questions complicated an already challenging diplomatic event.
Earlier on Sunday, the United Kingdom’s Ambassador to the US, Christian Turner, told CBS News that King Charles was still expected to arrive at the White House on Monday and to attend a state banquet on Tuesday night, dw.com reports.
President Trump himself then also confirmed that the visit would be going ahead, saying: “We’re going to have a great time.”
“He’s a great guy, and we look forward to it,” he told Fox News. “He’s really a fantastic person and a tremendous representative, and he’s brave. He represents his nation like nobody else can do it.”
Buckingham Palace confirmed on Sunday evening that King Charles’ state visit to the United States would indeed go ahead as planned, as reported earlier.
In a statement, the Palace said that Charles was “greatly relieved” that Trump, his wife Melania and other guests were unharmed, and said: “The King and Queen are most grateful to all those who have worked at pace to ensure this remains the case and are looking forward to the visit getting underway tomorrow.”
Earlier, senior UK minister Darren Jones told reporters that security teams in both the UK and the US were “working closely to ensure the security arrangements are put appropriately in place” for the state visit.
According to the AFP news agency, King Charles reached out privately to the Trumps to express their sympathies and to share their gratitude to the security services.
Previously, royal sources had told the BBC that “light adjustments” may need to be made to certain engagements on the King’s itinerary.
