Royals

All the royal family members who will be meeting Donald Trump during his state visit to the UK next week

And the royal family members who aren’t.
donald trump and the queenGetty Images

US President Donald Trump will be bringing his entire family to the UK next week for a three-day state visit where he’ll be undertaking a series of official engagements including a meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May and several engagements with members of the British royal family.

Indeed, it’s a jam-packed schedule for Donald and Melania Trump, who will begin their state visit at Buckingham Palace when they touch down on June 3rd.

There they’ll be welcomed by several senior members of the royal family including the Queen, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

After attending several engagements that day including an exhibition viewing with the Queen and laying a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior with Prince Andrew, the Trumps will attend a state banquet at Buckingham Palace on in the evening to conclude their first day.

And while the Palace has not confirmed exactly which members of the royal family will attend, it’s likely that along with Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will also be present along with Prince Harry.

The Queen and Melania and Donald Trump during their visit to Windsor Castle in 2018. (Image: Getty)

However there’s one notable member of the royal family, who’s in fact a US citizen, who won’t be in attendance.

Duchess Meghan, who is currently on maternity leave after giving birth to her first child Archie Harrison, will not be meeting the US president during his visit.

And, if what she’s voiced in the past still rings true, she’s likely glad she has the perfect excuse to skip meeting the Trumps.

Before marrying into the British royal family (royal family members traditionally are expected to be apolitical in public), the former actress and passionate feminist was a vocal Hillary Clinton supporter.

In fact, her and Prince Harry’s current head of communications Sara Lantham is is the former senior advisor on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 US presidential campaign, and in an interview on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore in 2016, Meghan called Trump “divisive” and “misogynistic”.

We wonder if Meghan is secretly glad she gets to skip the state visit. (Image: Getty)

Trump is also set to attend a private tea at Clarence House hosted by Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla, and with Prince Charles being a strong advocate for climate change action and Trump a climate change denier, all we’ll say is it’s bound to be a very interesting meeting to say the least.

This isn’t the first trip the US President has made to the UK as president though.

Last year he visited the Queen at Windsor in July (breaking three important royal protocol rules in the process), however this will mark his first state visit, after previous plans had been delayed with speculation it was due to worries about protests he might face.

Queen Elizabeth has hosted a long list of US Presidents during her reign, most recently former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, who met the Queen and Prince Philip in 2011 – Prince Philip even personally drove them around the estate.

Prince Philip driving former US President Barrack Obama and his wife Michelle along with the Queen during a visit to their estate. (Image: Getty)

Several years later the former US First Lady shared some revealing details about her visit with the Queen during an interview in 2018, recalling the Queen thought the royal protocol was rubbish.

Michelle says she’d understandably been incredibly nervous while meeting the monarch and had been trying to make sure she was abiding by all the proper royal protocol, but Queen Elizabeth clearly had different plans.

“I had all this protocol buzzing in my head and I was like ‘don’t trip down the stairs and don’t touch anybody, whatever you do,” she recalled.

“And so the Queen says, ‘just get in, sit wherever’, and she’s telling you one thing and you’re remembering protocol and she says, ‘Oh it’s all rubbish, just get in!'”

We wonder if this means we can expect another gem of a quote from the Queen this upcoming state visit?

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