Melania and Donald Trump are making their first official state visit to Buckingham Palace in June, but it may not include the honor of the traditional carriage procession or an overnight stay. Queen Elizabeth's invite is for a three-day duration, from June 3 to 5, which is less than a year from the Trump's visit to England.
During that controversial first visit, in July 2018, the First Lady Melania and the United States President Donald Trump were scheduled to meet the Queen at the Windsor Castle, but showed up late for their date. The incident sparked crowd rage all over London among Britons who were not, in the first place, very enthusiastic about the Trump visit.
Compounding their already tense reception, the U.S. President declared that it was he who was kept waiting by the Queen.
This latest announcement on the Trump's upcoming visit has engendered some comment that this June event may incite more of the same protests as before.
It should be noted that, while U.S. presidents have made official visits to the United Kingdom, very few have actually been afforded the pomp and fanfare which is involved in a full-measure state visit. In fact, only two have been given the honor; these were Barack Obama and George W. Bush.
The rare honor entails ceremonial greetings and a carriage ride drawn by horses. Then the Queen will honor her guests by throwing a big dinner for them at no less than the Buckingham Palace.
While it is true that this traditional welcome may involve a showy display, a state visit is not merely so. It involves an invitation from the Queen upon the counsel of her government. In the case of the present administration, the British Prime Minister Theresa May had made a commitment in 2006 to the newly elected President Trump.
But it was only recently that a date was set for the promised visit. Fanfare aside, such visits also hold a political motivation, that being to advance the British government's interests.
The upcoming trip will reassert the "steadfast and special" relations between the two nations. Prime Minister May has echoed the sentiment of the White House saying, that the United States and Britain share a "deep and enduring partnership" which is based on "common history" as well as "shared interests."
May also describes the visit as a chance to cultivate more deeply the "already close relationship" of the two governments. The Prime Minister and President Trump will henceforth have the opportunity to look into interests involving trade, defense, security as well as investment, in a meeting at Downing Street.
During the scheduled visit, on their last day, Melania and President Trump will also attend a commemoration of the 75th year of the Allied D-Day landings in Portsmouth. Other representatives of nations that had a hand in defeating Nazi Germany and freeing Europe are also expected to be in attendance, including those from France, New Zealand, Canada, Netherlands, Greece, Australia, Poland, Luxembourg, Denmark, Slovakia, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Norway, and Germany.
However, a Portsmouth City Council member is apprehensive that the commemorative event will turn into a "day of controversy" considering Donald Trump's presence.
