LONDON, June 3
Britain rolled out the royal red carpet for Donald Trump on Monday, with Queen Elizabeth leading the pomp and pageantry in honour of the US President whose interventions into London’s political crises threatened to overshadow the visit.
From a banquet with the 93-year-old monarch, who also gave him a guided tour of historical items at Buckingham Palace, to tea with heir Prince Charles, Trump and his wife Melania were to be treated to the full royal spectacle of a British state visit.
The three-day trip is cast as a chance to celebrate Britain’s “special relationship” with the United States, boost trade links and reaffirm security cooperation.
But the proudly unpredictable 45th US President’s views on Britain’s exit from the European Union, on the possible successor to Theresa May as British Prime Minister and a row over China’s Huawei have cast a pall over the visit.
Even as he flew into the British capital, he reignited a feud with London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who had written on Sunday that Britain should not be rolling out the red carpet for Trump, describing the mayor as a “stone cold loser”.
“I look forward to being a great friend to the United Kingdom, and am looking very much forward to my visit,” Trump wrote on Twitter .
The state visit was promised by PM May back in January 2017 when she became the first foreign leader to meet Trump after he took office. The first day of such a visit is customarily taken up with a series of royal engagements and ceremonies.
At Buckingham Palace, Melania — in an elegant, white below-the-knee Dolce & Gabbana dress with navy blue collar and belt and a custom hat by Herve Pierre — stood alongside the Queen and Charles’s wife Camilla, while Charles and the President inspected the guard.
After lunch with Elizabeth and other senior royals, the Queen gave the Trumps a guided tour of artefacts of American historical interest from the royal collection. She also showed him some of her family’s golfing memorabilia in a nod to the president who owns two Scottish golf courses.
The Queen’s second son Prince Andrew then accompanied him to Westminster Abbey, coronation church of English monarchs for 1,000 years where he laid a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior, before tea with Prince Charles at his home, Clarence House. The day culminates with a lavish banquet at Buckingham Palace, where men wear white tie coats with tails and women evening gowns. — Reuters
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/2Wp5ZEL
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