(Reuters) – Britain’s King Charles arrived at the White House on Tuesday for a meeting with US President Donald Trump as part of a state visit aimed at emphasizing unity between the two longtime allies despite deep divisions over the Iran war.
Charles and Queen Camilla were welcomed by the president and first lady Melania Trump on a morning visit to the presidential mansion, while hundreds of guests were on the South Lawn with the Washington Monument in the distance. The cannons fired, temporarily covering much of the site with smoke, while the US national anthem was played.
‘What a beautiful British day it is,’ Trump told those gathered under a cloudy April sky, to the amusement of the British guests.
The royal couple are on a four-day state visit to the US aimed at highlighting the ties between the UK and its former colony over the 250 years since US independence, an association known in recent decades as the ‘special relationship’.
In his comments, Trump referred to the king as “a very elegant man” and joked that his mother “had a thing for Charles.”
TRUMP ON ‘WAR WOUNDS’
But he also emphasized the bonds of friendship that had developed between the British and Americans since their days as adversaries during the War of Independence and the ‘wounds of war’ it caused.
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‘Think about that difficult war long ago, and yet, those wounds have indeed healed and turned into the most cherished of friendships,’ Trump said.
“The soldiers who once called themselves Redcoats and Yankees became the Tommies and GIs who together saved the free world as brothers in arms and brothers in eternity,” the president added in a reference to World War II.
After the visit to the White House, the king would highlight the union between the USA and the United Kingdom in a rare speech to Congress.
Charles will avoid the political dispute between Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, but will highlight their countries’ shared values, such as the duty to promote peace, compassion and democracy, while protecting the environment and religious freedom.
