White House insists Biden is NOT snubbing King Charles by skipping coronation

The White House insisted on Wednesday that President Joe Biden didn’t snub King Charles III by skipping his coronation and sending first lady Jill Biden in his place.

‘This is no excuse. The president has a good relationship with the king,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in response to a question from DailyMail.com.

She noted that the president and monarch spoke for about 30 minutes on Tuesday and that Charles invited Biden on a state visit to the United Kingdom. DailyMail.com exclusively reported that the call took place and the president informed the king that he would be sending his wife to the historic event instead of making the trip himself.

“During that call, the king offered him to make a state visit, which the president accepted and so they will see each other again very soon,” said Jean-Pierre.

She did not set a date for that visit and would not say whether Biden will sit down with the king when he visits the UK later this month to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement during a stop in Belfast.

Jean-Pierre stressed several times that the two leaders have a good relationship, pointing to their shared interest in climate issues.

Both US and UK officials pointed out that no US president has attended a coronation. President Dwight Eisenhower did not attend the Queen Elizabeth’s, but that occurred in 1953 when traveling overseas was much more difficult and time consuming. Biden could make it to London and back in a day on his private 747.

The first lady will lead the US delegation to the May 6 coronation.

“The US will be well represented by the First Lady and we are proud that she will be representing the United States at the coronation,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Wednesday.

“There is precedent here for the president not to go and President Eisenhower was also not present at Queen Elizabeth’s coronation. The phone call yesterday was very cordial between the king and the president. And the king was very kind and grateful for the presence of the First Lady,” he added

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Biden was not snubbing the British by not attending King Charles’s coronation

US and British officials point out that President Dwight Eisenhower did not attend Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, but that it took place in 1953, when traveling abroad was much more complicated and time-consuming

The timing of the event is sensitive.

The coronation will take place shortly after Biden’s trip to Northern Ireland and the Republic. He will be in Belfast, Northern Ireland from April 11-12 and travel to Ireland from April 12-14

The president is proud of his Irish roots and speaks of it often. He is not afraid to speak his mind on Irish affairs and expressed his support for the protection of the Good Friday Agreement as Britain negotiated Brexit trade rules with the European Union.

The government insisted that London respect the Northern Ireland Protocol, an agreement with the European Union that draws a customs border in the Irish Sea between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland.

British loyalists complained that the protocol is bringing Northern Ireland closer to the neighboring Republic of Ireland. There are Protestant suspicions that the Catholic Biden favors a united Ireland, but the president has not publicly expressed support for such a move.

The White House has not announced Biden’s trip to Ireland, but British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak formally invited the president to come when he met him in San Diego last month. Biden accepted.

Sunak helped negotiate the Windsor Framework, which resolved the trade dispute and paved the way for Biden’s visit to Northern Ireland and the Republic.

President Joe Biden often talks about his Irish roots – above, he accepts a bouquet of shamrocks from Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on St. Patrick’s Day

President Joe Biden met Charles, then Prince of Wales, at the COP26 summit in Scotland in November 2021

While touring Ireland, Biden will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which ended 30 years of sectarian violence between pro-Irish Catholics and pro-British Protestants.

He is also expected to visit relatives – his distant cousins, the Finnegans – who live in counties Louth and Mayo.

But the president’s time is expected to be earlier than a formal, official celebration of the Good Friday Agreement with King Charles, Sunak, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Then-President Bill Clinton helped negotiate the agreement.

Biden has not met King Charles since he ascended the throne and is not expected to meet him in Ireland.

However, Biden met Charles when he was Prince of Wales.

The two men had a one-on-one meeting at the COP26 climate summit in Scotland in October 2021. Both care about environmental issues.

As king, Charles is above politics, but he is head of state and plays an important role in the special, essential relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.

But several heads of state, including those of France, Spain, Ireland, Japan and Monaco, will be on hand to see Charles crowned.

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden meeting Queen Elizabeth at the 2021 G7 Cornwall Summit

Jill Biden and Joe Biden attended Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in September 2022

Prince William and Princess Catherine are expected to play major roles and their three children – George, Charlotte and Louis – are expected to attend at least part of the lavish coronation ceremony.

It remains unclear whether Harry and Meghan will attend amid strained relations with the royal family.

But Charles is planning a smaller ceremony for his formal enthronement, cutting thousands off the list compared to the nearly 8,000 who attended his mother’s coronation in 1953.

The Archbishop of Canterbury will preside over the ceremony and crown both King Charles and the Queen’s consort Camilla.

It is expected to last about an hour compared to Queen Elizabeth II’s, which lasted nearly three hours.

Still, England will be given a three-day holiday weekend and there will be multiple public celebrations, including parades, street parties and picnics, to mark the occasion.

Charles officially became king after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II in September last year.

Both Bidens attended the Queen’s funeral. During that time, they briefly met Charles at a reception for world leaders at Buckingham Palace.