King Charles to Address US Congress In First State Visit as Monarch
King Charles III will deliver a landmark address to a joint session of the United States Congress during his first state visit as monarch, Buckingham Palace announced on Tuesday. The four-day visit, scheduled to begin April 27, will “recognise the shared history of our two nations” and celebrate “deep people-to-people connections,” the royal communications team stated.
US Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed the British monarch will address lawmakers from both chambers on April 28. Charles will be the first British sovereign to speak before Congress since his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, appeared in 1991 shortly after the Gulf War.
Accompanied by Queen Camilla, the King will hold tea with President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, attend a state dinner, and participate in a military review. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that the visit “will be TERRIFIC.”
The trip proceeds despite calls from some British politicians for postponement or cancellation owing to transatlantic tensions over the Iran war. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted on Monday that the “very important” visit would go ahead, asserting that bonds forged by the monarchy can “reach through the decades in a situation like this.”
Trump has previously been hosted for two state visits—first in 2019 by Queen Elizabeth II and again in September 2025 by King Charles, an unprecedented second invitation that included dinner at Windsor Castle, a flyover, and military parades.
Following engagements in Washington, the royal couple will travel to New York to meet first responders and families of those killed in the September 11 attacks. They will also convene with business leaders and attend a reception highlighting The King’s Trust, the monarch’s charity supporting vulnerable young people.
The itinerary includes Virginia, site of some of the earliest English colonies, where Charles and Camilla will attend a street “block party” marking the anniversary of the 1776 Declaration of Independence. The visit concludes May 1 in Bermuda, Charles’s first trip to the British Overseas Territory as King.
The visit unfolds against the backdrop of renewed scrutiny regarding Prince Andrew, the King’s brother, who remains under UK police investigation over links to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. A US lawmaker and relatives of Virginia Giuffre—an Epstein accuser who died by suicide last year—have urged Charles to meet with survivors of Epstein’s crimes. However, a source told Britain’s Press Association news agency that such a meeting “will not be possible,” citing the risk it could “impact on (police) inquiries, or the proper course of the law.”