Joe Biden snubbed back by King Charles as First Lady tucked away at back of Westminster Abbey Coronation congregation

Joe Biden snubbed back by King Charles as First Lady tucked away at back of Westminster Abbey Coronation congregation

Jill Biden arrives at Westminster Abbey for King Charles' Coronation

GB News
Jack Walters

By Jack Walters


Published: 06/05/2023

- 11:01

Updated: 06/05/2023

- 11:21

The US President was heavily criticised after he rejected an invitation to attend King Charles’ Coronation

Joe Biden has been snubbed after his wife Jill Biden was spotted tucked away at the back of Westminster Abbey for King Charles’ Coronation ceremony.

The First Lady, 71, was accompanied by her 23-year-old granddaughter Finnegan Biden.


The pair were wearing complementary blue and yellow outfits.

The Bidens, who are in attendance on behalf of the United States, arrived at Westminster Abbey at 9.39am.

Jill Biden can be seen tucked away at the back of Westminster Abbey

Jill Biden can be seen tucked away at the back of Westminster Abbey

GB News

However, eagle-eyed Coronation watchers would have seen the pair were seated quite far away from the centre of proceedings.

President Biden’s decision to turn down an invitation to the Coronation sparked outrage amongst Conservative MPs.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was forced to address concerns about his absence.

She previously said: "This is not a snub. The President has a good relationship with the King."

The pair were wearing complementary blue and yellow outfits as they arrived at 9.39am\u200b

The pair were wearing complementary blue and yellow outfits as they arrived at 9.39am

PA

But Biden recently joked in an MSNBC interview: "I told him I couldn't be there because I have this going on."

Jean-Pierre also noted that Biden and Charles spoke for around 30 minutes on Tuesday.

The 46th President congratulated the British monarch ahead of the historic occasion and accepted an invitation to visit the UK later this year on a state visit.

Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely voiced his disappointment with Biden.

Joe Biden giving a speech

Joe Biden recently joked about why he could not attend King Charles' Coronation

Reuters

“It seems pretty remiss, and I’m tempted to say more fool him for not coming,” he said.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and you would have thought he should come because he’s a head of state.

“If I was the President of the United States, I would come to the Coronation of the King of England – there’s no two ways about it. It just seems to be a foolish decision.”

Despite raising eyebrows with Tory MPs, the 80-year-old President appears to be following precedent by not attending the Coronation.

No previous Commander-in-Chief has attended a British monarch’s Coronation, with Dwight Eisenhower steering clear in 1953.

King Charles

King Charles and Joe Biden had a phone call and discussed an upcoming state visit

PA

Jill and Finnegan Biden arrived at Westminster Abbey minutes before French President Emmanuel Macron, 45, waltzed in with his 70-year-old wife Brigitte.

All seven former UK Prime Ministers also arrived at the Abbey.

John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron arrived in one group.

Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss followed later, with current Number 10 occupant Rishi Sunak arriving soon after.

More than 2,000 people will watch King Charles’ Coronation from inside Westminster Abbey.

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