Trump rolls out the pink carpet for King Charles and Queen Camilla as royals are formally welcomed with White House pomp and pageantry

Donald Trump has welcomed the King and Queen to the White House with full ceremonial honours – and a lighthearted joke about his Scottish mother’s crush on the monarch.

The President noted that Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, who died in 2000, ‘loved the royal family and the Queen’, and that she thought the then-Prince Charles was ‘cute’.

‘Any time the queen was involved in a ceremony or anything, my mother would be glued to the television and she would say, “look, Donald, look how beautiful that is”,’ Trump said.

‘She really did love the family. But I also remember her saying very clearly: “Charles, look, young Charles, he is so cute”.

‘My mother had a crush on Charles. Can you believe it? Amazing how I wonder what she is thinking right now.’

After their high-profile, but low-key welcome to the US yesterday by the President and First Lady Melania which involved pots of tea, dainty sandwiches and small talk, the couple’s historic – and controversial – state visit got into full swing this morning.

The American leader, who sources say was insistent that the first inwards state visit of his second presidency would be by the British Royal Family and has described the monarch as a ‘great man’, was keen to show off his country’s military history and prowess.

He formally welcomed King Charles and Queen Camilla with a military ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, the highest diplomatic honour extended by the US to a visiting head of state.

Trump then launched into a speech in which he acknowledged the ‘irony’ of a state visit by the royal family to the United States, which is marking 250 years of independence from the British this year.

‘Here in the shadows of monuments to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, honoring the British king might seem an ironic beginning to our celebration of 250 years of American Independence, but in fact, no tribute to be more appropriate,’ he said.

‘Long before Americans had a nation or a constitution, we first had a culture, a character and a creed. Before we ever proclaimed our independence, Americans carried within us the rarest of gifts, moral courage and it came from a small but mighty kingdom from across the sea.

‘The American patriots who pledged their lives to independence in 1776 were the heirs to this majestic inheritance; their veins rang with English faith in standing firm for what was right, good and true.’

He added: ‘Americans have had no closer friends than the British.’

Even the pre-ceremony performance involved a huge number of musicians – more than 200 in all – including the US Marine Drum and Bugle Corps and the US Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, as well as music by the US Navy Band, the US Air Force Band, and the US Navy Sea Chanters.

After meeting the official delegations of both countries, including senior political figures, the King and Queen, alongside the President and First Lady, were expected to proceed to a dais for a 21-gun salute and the national anthems performed by the US Marine Band.

They will also play during the inspection, before concluding with the ‘Stars and Stripes Forever’ march by John Philip Sousa.

His Majesty and the President, accompanied by the Commander of Troops, will inspect the troops on parade in a mirror ceremony of the Guard of Honour that President Trump received at Windsor Castle on his own recent state visit to the UK.

A notable addition to the assembled military regiments was the ‘Space Force’. It is the first White House event that has ever involved the Space Force Honor Guard Formation, the administration said.

The US Armed Forces participating in the ceremonial welcome include:

• Military Aides to the President of the United States (Army, Marine Corps, Space Force)
• White House Marine Sentries
• White House Social Aides
• The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps
• The United States Army Herald Trumpets
• 3d United States Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), Honor Guard, United States Army
• 3d United States Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), Commander-in-Chief’s Guard, United States Army
• United States Army Presidential Salute Battery
• United States Marine Corps Honor Guard
• United States Navy Ceremonial Guard
• United States Air Force Honor Guard
• United States Space Force Honor Guard
• United States Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard

Before entering the White House, their Majesties and the President and First Lady were set to pause on the historic balcony of the South Portico, where they will watch a stunning ‘Pass in Review’ of nearly 500 members of the US Armed Forces from all six military branches represented at the ceremony in another historic first for state visits at the White House.

Diplomats see this as a sign of how much the President is keen that the trip is a success.

After the ceremonial elements of the morning, the King and President will meet for bilateral talks in the iconic Oval Office with their most senior advisors.

Although photographers will be present to capture the first moments of the meeting, there will be no reporters or television cameras present.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given some of the President’s recent showdowns at his official residence, opportunities to hear the two men talking have been kept to a minimum.

Meanwhile the Queen and the First Lady, who warmly greeted each other with kisses yesterday, will conduct a brief joint engagement together.

They will join American students for a cross-cultural educational event at the White House Tennis Pavilion, where students will be using virtual reality headsets and AI-enabled glasses to learn about American history and the UK, featuring artefacts from the White House Collection and the National Archives and Records Administration.

While there have been calls in recent weeks for the British government to call off the visit given President Trump’s aggressive foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East, and his spectacular falling out with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, ministers and diplomats are hopeful that the King’s legendary power of ‘soft diplomacy’ will help to smooth over some of the fissures.

The King has developed a genuinely warm relationship with the President, who has made no secret of his admiration for the British Royal Family.

He was left deeply impressed by the welcome he has received in the UK over the years, both at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle – so much so that he has decided to build his own White House ballroom for official entertaining.

The trip – which has been built around events to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, marking America’s separation from Great Britain – has been billed as the trickiest of His Majesty’s reign so far.

But the welcome he is receiving today suggests that his host, for one, is keen for it to go off without a hitch.

Later the King will become only the second monarch in history to address a joint session of Congress, the first being his late mother.

His message will be clear: that the US and the UK can come together, even when they disagree on the subject matter – in words likely to be welcomed by politicians on both sides of the Atlantic.