Royals

President Trump Set to Meet Queen Elizabeth at Harry and Meghan's Wedding Venue

The meeting has been delayed several times previously

Published on June 27, 2018 09:29 AM

President Donald Trump looks like he is getting his meeting with Queen Elizabeth after all.

After more than a year of back-and-forth about whether he would be heading to the U.K. for an official visit, he is now set to meet the Queen at Windsor Castle in July. The castle was recently the site of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s royal wedding.

U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood Johnson confirmed the upcoming meeting to Sky News on Tuesday.

It will not be a full-blown state visit, complete with the pomp and ceremony of a Buckingham Palace meeting and military welcome. Rather, Trump will be in the U.K. for a working visit July 12-14 and is set to see the Queen on July 13. It is the first time Trump has been in the country since his 2016 election.

It is unknown who else, if anyone, from the royal family would meet with the president. Neither Downing Street nor a spokesman for the White House had any immediate comment.

“I mean, he has to see the head of state,” Johnson told Sky News. “Putting his foot on British soil, it’s job one, it’s very important, very symbolic.”

“Meeting Her Majesty is the most important thing, because she’s the head of state, and from then on, it’ll be what the president wants to do.”

The Windsor Castle web site notes that the castle will be closed to the public on July 13, making it the likely setting for the meeting. The only other dates the castle is not open to the public are October 11-12 for Princess Eugenie’s wedding.

According to various reports, it is likely that Trump will meet Prime Minister Theresa May during the visit and possibly will play golf at his own course, Turnberry, in Scotland.

The invitation to the U.K. for a state visit – which was made and accepted shortly after his inauguration in January 2017 — still stands. But it has been put on hold amid the threat of protests and a petition saying he shouldn’t be afforded the privilege of a full state visit. President Trump was previously set for a working visit to open the new U.S. embassy in London, but he decided not to travel as he didn’t agree with the previous Obama administration’s choice of venue for the diplomatic home.