Jill Biden will lead the American delegation to the coronation of King Charles III, representing America at the inauguration of the new British monarch in place of President Joe Biden, who will not attend.
President Biden called King Charles on Tuesday afternoon to say the first lady would go for him, a source familiar with DailyMail.com told DailyMail.com.
The White House later released a readout of the call, noting that Biden also told Charles he looked forward to meeting with him later in the UK.
The President congratulated the King on his upcoming coronation and informed him that First Lady Jill Biden looks forward to attending on behalf of the United States. The President also expressed his desire to meet the King in the United Kingdom at a later date.
She will attend the May 6 ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London, where coronation ceremonies have been held for nearly 1,000 years.
First Lady Jill Biden will lead the American delegation to the coronation of King Charles III, representing the United States in this historic event
The first lady will take the lead in the Biden administration at the historic event amid concerns that some will see the president’s absence as a snub. Questions have been raised about Joe Biden’s commitment to the “special relationship” with Britain in light of his professed love for Ireland.
Both US and British officials said the relationship between the two countries remains strong and fundamental. They point out that presidents usually do not attend coronation ceremonies.
But the timing of the event is delicate. The coronation takes place shortly after Biden’s expected trip to Northern Ireland and the Republic, where he will celebrate the Good Friday Agreement but is not expected to sit with the king.
The president is very proud of his Irish roots and talks about them often. He is not afraid to speak his mind on Irish affairs and has been outspoken in his support for protecting the Good Friday Agreement while Britain negotiated Brexit trade rules with the EU.
The administration insisted that London honor the Northern Ireland Protocol, an agreement with the European Union that delineates a customs boundary in the Irish Sea between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland.
Loyalists complained that the Protocol brought Northern Ireland closer to the neighboring Republic of Ireland. There are Protestant suspicions that the Catholic Biden would prefer a united Ireland, but the president has not publicly stated his support for such a move.
The White House has not announced Biden’s trip to Ireland, but British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak formally invited the president to attend when he met him in San Diego last month. Before Biden.
Sunak helped negotiate the Windsor Framework, which settled the trade dispute and helped pave the way for Biden’s visit to Northern Ireland and the Republic.
King Charles III will be crowned on May 6th
President Biden called King Charles on Tuesday to say that Jill Biden will attend the coronation ceremony — over the first couple in Mississippi on Friday.
President Joe Biden often talks about his Irish roots – above kissing a bouquet of shamrocks from Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on St. Patrick’s Day
During his trip to Ireland, Biden will mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which ended 30 years of sectarian violence between pro-Irish Catholics and pro-British Protestants. He is also expected to visit his family members – distant artist cousins - who live in Counties Louth and Mayo.
But the president’s time there is expected to be ahead of the official Good Friday Convention celebration that will feature King Charles, Sunak, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He then helped President Bill Clinton negotiate the agreement.
It is unclear if Biden will meet with Sunak or other British political officials during his trip to Ireland.
But Biden has not met King Charles since he acceded to the throne and does not expect to meet him while he is in Ireland.
But Biden met Charles when he was Prince of Wales.
The two men had a one-on-one meeting at the COP26 Climate Summit in Scotland in October 2021. Both are concerned about environmental issues.
Charles, as monarch, is above politics, but he is head of state and plays an important role in the special and essential relationship that the United States and the United Kingdom share.
However, there is precedent for the President of the United States not to attend a royal coronation.
For example, President Eisenhower did not attend the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Instead, the American delegation included Earl Warren, then Governor of California. George Marshall, former Secretary of State; and Omar Bradley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
But many heads of state, including those of France, Spain, Ireland, Japan and Monaco, will be present for Charles’ coronation.
President Joe Biden met Charles, then Prince of Wales, in November 2021 at the COP26 summit in Scotland
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden meet Queen Elizabeth at the G7 summit in Cornwall in 2021
Jill Biden and Joe Biden attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in September 2022
Prince William and Princess Catherine are expected to play a major role and their three children — George, Charlotte and Louis — are expected to attend at least parts of the lavish ceremony.
It remains unclear whether Harry and Meghan will attend amid strained relations with the royal family.
But Charles is planning a cut-back ceremony to officially take the throne, knocking thousands off the checklist compared to the roughly 8,000 people who attended his mother’s coronation in 1953.
The Archbishop of Canterbury will crown each of King Charles’s consort, Queen Camilla.
It is expected to last about an hour, compared to Queen Elizabeth II’s, which lasted nearly three hours.
However, England will have a three-day weekend and there will be multiple public festivities, including parades, street parties and picnics, to mark the occasion.
Charles officially became king after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September last year.
Both Bidens attended the Queen’s funeral.
