Trump to be treated to Guard of Honour when he meets the Queen

US President Donald Trump will be treated to a Guard of Honour when he meets the Queen at Windsor Castle.
The U.S. President, Donald Trump, will meet the Queen on Friday. Picture: AP Photo/Markus SchreiberThe U.S. President, Donald Trump, will meet the Queen on Friday. Picture: AP Photo/Markus Schreiber
The U.S. President, Donald Trump, will meet the Queen on Friday. Picture: AP Photo/Markus Schreiber

Buckingham Palace announced that the monarch will meet the American leader and First Lady Melania Trump at the dais in the Quadrangle of the historic Berkshire royal residence on Friday.

A Guard of Honour, formed of the Coldstream Guards, will give a Royal Salute and the US national anthem will be played.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Queen and Mr Trump will inspect the Guard of Honour before watching the military march past.

Mr and Mrs Trump will also join the Queen for tea at the Castle.

The Queen has received three other US Presidents at Windsor Castle since the 1980s - Barack Obama in 2016, George W Bush in 2008 and Ronald Reagan in 1982.

One of the biggest ever police operations will be staged to cover Mr Trump’s brief stay in the UK.

Nearly every force in England and Wales has contributed officers to help with the massive mobilisation, the biggest since the 2011 riots.

Thousands of officers will be on duty to cover the visit, during which President Trump is expected to visit locations including Blenheim Palace, Chequers, Windsor Castle, the US ambassador’s official residence in Regent’s Park, London, and Scotland.

Mr Trump’s royal encounter is not a state visit - an offer that was extended to him by Prime Minister Theresa May in the early days of his presidency.

There will be no carriage procession and no opulent state banquet, and no other members of the royal family will call in to Windsor to meet the controversial billionaire-turned-politician.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

When the then US president Barack Obama dropped in to see the Queen at Windsor Castle in 2016 - the day after her 90th birthday - he and Michelle Obama had lunch with the monarch and the Duke of Edinburgh in the castle’s private dining room.

Philip, who has now retired from public duties, even took the responsibility of driving the Obamas, and the Queen, the short distance from their helicopter to the castle in the Queen’s Range Rover.

In the evening, the Obamas dined with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry at Kensington Palace, and Prince George stayed up late to meet them.

Mr Obama carried out a state visit to the UK in 2011, as did George W Bush in 2003.

Ronald Reagan’s visit to Windsor in 1982 was also not a state visit but, unlike Mr Trump, he was hosted with a glittering banquet for 160 guests in the castle’s St George’s Hall.

The Queen wore a tiara, as did the monarch’s sister Princess Margaret, to the grand formal white tie occasion, which was also attended by the Prince of Wales.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Speeches were delivered by both the Queen and Mr Reagan, with the monarch paying tribute to the lasting friendship between the nations.

She also mentioned how much she had enjoyed riding her horses with the American leader earlier in the day.

Mr Reagan stayed with the Queen at Windsor.

George W Bush’s whistle-stop tour to the UK in 2008, five years after his state visit, saw him visit Windsor Castle, where he had tea with the Queen in the White Drawing Room.

The monarch also gave Mr Bush and his wife Laura a tour of some of the castle’s state apartments, including the restored St George’s Hall.

In the Green Drawing Room, they viewed a private exhibition of pictures, letters and other items relating to visits to the UK by US presidents and royal trips to the US.

Related topics: