WASHINGTON – United States President Joe Biden will not be attending the May 6 coronation of King Charles in London, the White House said on Tuesday evening. First Lady Jill Biden will represent the US at the ceremony in Westminster Abbey.
The plans were referred to in a brief statement about a call between the President and the King.
“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 US,” the White House said, adding that Mr Biden “conveyed his desire to meet with the King in the United Kingdom at a future date”.
The BBC reported on Tuesday that about 2,000 people had been invited to the coronation ceremony. Then-US president Dwight Eisenhower did not attend the coronation of King Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth, in 1953.
Mr Biden plans to visit the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland later this month to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement that ended decades of conflict in the North. That accord came under strain after Britain voted in 2016 to leave the European Union.
In March, the UK and the EU signed off on a new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland, promising to jump-start the process of resolving the last major obstacle following Britain’s exit from the bloc.
Even so, threats of violence remain. On March 28, Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, MI5, raised the terror threat level in Northern Ireland from substantial to “severe”, meaning an attack is deemed to be “highly likely”. BLOOMBERG
