Davey said: \u201cThe prime minister is showing a staggering lack of backbone by pushing ahead with this state visit while Donald Trump treats our country with contempt.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo send the king on a state visit to the US after Trump dismissed our Royal Navy as \u2018toys\u2019 is a humiliation, and a sign of a government too weak to stand up to bullies. What appalling thing does Trump have to do next to make the government see sense and cancel the state visit?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thornberry had also suggested previously it would be \u201csafer to delay\u201d the visit, saying Charles and Camilla could be left feeling \u201cembarrassed\u201d because of the crisis.<\/p>\n
Buckingham Palace said Charles and Camilla would undertake the visit at the end of April \u201con advice of his majesty\u2019s government, and at the invitation of the president of the United States\u201d.<\/p>\n
Charles is expected to make an address to Congress and attend events marking the 250th anniversary of US independence.<\/p>\n
It will be the king\u2019s first visit to the US as monarch and the first state visit by a British sovereign to the US since Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s tour in 2007.<\/p>\n
Trump posted on his Truth Social network: \u201cMelania and I are pleased to announce that Their Majesties, the King and Queen of the United Kingdom, will visit the United States for a Historic State Visit from April 27-30th, which will include a beautiful Banquet Dinner at the White House on the evening of April 28th.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis momentous occasion will be even more special this year, as we commemorate the 250th Anniversary of our Great Country. I look forward to spending time with the King, whom I greatly respect. It will be TERRIFIC!\u201d<\/p>\n
Only an hour earlier Trump had again criticised Starmer and his failure to back the US-Israel strikes on Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll \u200bof those countries that can\u2019t get jet fuel \u200bbecause of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation \u200bof Iran, I have a suggestion for \u200byou: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, \u200cand \u2060Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,\u201d Trump said in another Truth Social post.<\/p>\n
The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, also put pressure on the UK to \u201cstep up\u201d to defend the critical waterway in a press conference on Tuesday. \u201cLast time I checked, there was supposed to be a big, bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A number of Labour MPs have criticised the decision to allow the state visit to go ahead. John McDonnell, the veteran backbencher and former shadow chancellor, said: \u201cTrump will inevitably do all he can to use this for his own personal publicity purposes in advance of the US elections. There is no gain from this visit as any association with the barbarity of the Trump regime tarnishes the reputation of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former shadow defence secretary Clive Lewis said: \u201cNo one disputes the need for diplomacy with the US. That is realpolitik. But rolling out a state visit in the middle of an illegal war, led by a man doing profound damage to democratic norms, is not diplomacy; it is a profound misreading of the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The MP Kim Johnson said it was an insult to the British people facing a cost of living crisis because of the war. \u201cThis war is causing global economic crisis, which will create deeper levels of poverty for my constituents,\u201d she said. \u201cThe royal visit will only embolden Trump. This shouldn\u2019t be allowed to happen; he has slagged off Starmer and undermined our government.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Trump](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3139.jpg\")
Trump hails ‘eternal’ bond between US and UK at Windsor state banquet \u2013 video<\/p>\n