King Charles SNUBBED by Joe Biden as US President turns down Coronation invite - 'Foolish decision!'
US President Joe Biden is unlikely to attend King Charles' Coro
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The US President, Joe Biden is unlikely to attend the King’s Coronation next month, it has emerged.
He is “not expected” to join several heads of state for the event on May 6 according to sources close to discussions.
America is keen to prevent any perceptions of a snub and show support for the King, with one possibility to send Jill Biden, the first lady to attend instead.
Coronation guests have already been emailed by Buckingham Palace and told to “save the date” of the ceremony.
The King made his first state visit as monarch as he travelled to Germany
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Many heads of state including from Ireland, France, Spain, Belgium, Japan, Hungary and Monaco will attend the event.
All three presidents of the EU – Ursula von der Leyen, Roberta Metsola and Charles Michel – will also be there.
Newly elected Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf has said he will attend despite publicly stating he is a republican.
He has also accepted an invitation to speak at a pro-independence rally in Glasgow on the same day.
Earlier this week, the King made his first state visit as monarch as he travelled to Germany after plans to also visit France were postponed due to widespread protests over Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms.
On Friday, the King and Queen visited Hamburg, where Charles stood with Germany’s president in a symbol of reconciliation as they laid wreaths in remembrance of the victims of war.
Dame Karen Pierce, the British ambassador to the US, and Buckingham Palace aides are understood to have held “cordial and diplomatic” talks with the White House about the Coronation.
They have been told that Biden, who attended the funeral of the late Queen, already has other commitments.
Sources close to Biden said that his relationship with the King was “strong”, and both London and Washington have attempted to play down any suggestion of a threat to the “special relationship”.
Sources claim that Joe Biden is considering sending Jill Biden, the first lady
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However, Bob Seely, a Conservative MP on the foreign affairs select committee, said the White House had made a “foolish decision” and urged Biden to rethink his schedule.
“It seems pretty remiss, and I’m tempted to say more fool him for not coming,” he told The Telegraph.
“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.”
The White House has told Britain’s representatives that Biden intends to send a delegation, but he has not yet sent a formal response to Buckingham Palace.