New mother Meghan Markle will miss out on welcoming Trump
The Queen and the royal family will welcome US President Donald Trump to the UK during his state visit – but new mother the Duchess of Sussex will be missing.
Britain’s head of state will be supported by senior royals when she hosts the American leader and his wife Melania over three days beginning on June 3.
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will join the Queen for the official ceremonial welcome being staged in Buckingham Palace’s garden instead of the usual Horse Guards Parade venue in Whitehall – a decision likely due to security concerns.
The Duke of Sussex will be at the private palace lunch held on the first day for the Trumps but wife Meghan, whose son Archie will be less than four weeks old when the President arrives, will not.
At the state banquet, a lavish white-tie dinner staged in the palace’s ballroom, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will join the Queen and Charles and Camilla for the event, which will feature leading figures from UK national life and prominent Americans in Britain.
The US president will also have tea with the heir to the throne and his wife during the first day and on the second visit Downing Street for talks with Prime Minister Theresa May just a few days before she steps down from office.
Mr Trump is reportedly bringing his grown up children with him when he visits the UK – daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, both advisers to the President, along with her siblings Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump.
When the state visit was announced in April, Mrs May hailed it as an opportunity for the UK and US “to strengthen our already close relationship”, while the White House said it would “reaffirm the steadfast and special relationship” between the two nations.
But confirmation of the trip was condemned at the time by shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, who said the President had “systematically assaulted all the shared values that unite our two countries”.
Security around the visit is expected to be tight and the organisation, Stand Up To Trump, has pledged to mobilise huge numbers to protest against it.
During the second day of the state visit, Mrs May and the US president will co-host a business breakfast meeting, attended by the Duke of York, at St James’s Palace.
Mr Trump will then visit Downing Street to hold talks with the Prime Minister followed by a joint press conference.
That evening the Trumps will host a return dinner at Winfield House, the residence of the US ambassador, which Charles and Camilla will attend on behalf of the Queen.
On Wednesday June 5, the Queen and Charles will attend the national commemorative event for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings at Southsea Common, Portsmouth.
More than 300 D-Day veterans will be at the ceremony which aims to tell the story of D-Day through musical performance, testimonial readings and military displays, including a fly-past of 25 modern and historical aircraft.