Meeting with King Charles on Upcoming European Trip Planned for Biden

President Biden is scheduled to have a meeting with King Charles III of Britain during his upcoming trip to the country. This will be President Biden’s first visit with the British monarch since Charles ascended to the throne in May.

The White House announced that President Biden will be traveling from July 9-13, with stops in Britain, Lithuania for the NATO summit, and Helsinki, Finland for a U.S.-Nordic Leaders Summit. His first stop will be in London, where he will meet with King Charles III and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The purpose of the meeting is to further strengthen the close relationship between the United States and Britain.

President Biden has met with King Charles in the past before he became king and before President Biden took office. They had a meeting at the White House in 2015 when President Biden was Vice President. President Biden also attended Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral last year and has had conversations with Charles following his ascent to the throne, including after the death of his mother.

However, President Biden did not attend Charles’ coronation in May. Instead, First Lady Jill Biden represented the United States. President Biden also did not meet with Charles during his visit to Ireland and Northern Ireland in April, where he celebrated the anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

President Biden and Prime Minister Sunak held a joint press conference at the White House in June. They had several face-to-face meetings prior to that. Prime Minister Sunak, a conservative, assumed office in October 2022 as the first prime minister appointed by Charles. After Queen Elizabeth’s death, Sunak’s successor Liz Truss resigned from the position in less than two months, making it the shortest tenure of any prime minister in history. Sunak was then chosen by the Conservative Party as the new leader.