A grey autumn sky hung over Windsor Castle on Wednesday as US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump began their second state visit to the United Kingdom, welcomed with pomp, protocol, and just a hint of spectacle.
The couple’s arrival was marked by a distinctly royal flourish: the Prince and Princess of Wales greeting them on the castle grounds before ushering them to meet King Charles III and Queen Camilla, who has only recently recovered from a bout of acute sinusitis. It was William, 43, who made the introduction, captured in a carefully curated Instagram post showing Trump with the Marine One helicopter in the background, accompanied by the caption, “Welcome President Trump.”
The ceremonial pageantry unfolded with all its usual grandeur. Trump and King Charles shared a royal carriage for the procession, the monarch resplendent alongside the American president, while Queen Camilla and Melania Trump followed in the Scottish State Coach. A guard of honour awaited as the strains of the US and UK national anthems rolled across the Windsor lawns. There was formality, but also flashes of warmth: laughter exchanged between Charles and Trump as they inspected the troops before retreating indoors for a private state lunch.
The exchange of gifts, steeped in symbolism, is expected to anchor the day’s diplomacy. Reports suggest the King will present Trump with a bespoke hand-bound leather volume commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the Union Flag that flew above Buckingham Palace during his second inauguration in January. Queen Camilla is set to receive a vintage Tiffany and Co 18K gold, diamond and ruby brooch, while the First Lady will be given a silver and enamel bowl by Northern Irish artist Cara Murphy and a personalised handbag from designer Anya Hindmarch. In return, Trump plans to offer King Charles a replica of a President Eisenhower sword — a pointed nod to the wartime alliance between Washington and London.
Beyond the formalities, the President and First Lady were shown rare items from the Royal Collection in the Green Drawing Room, including John Smith’s 1624 General Historie of Virginia map, a reminder of the early entanglements of Anglo-American history. Later, the couple made a quiet pilgrimage to St George’s Chapel, laying a wreath at the tomb of the late Queen Elizabeth II, whom Trump met on his first state visit in 2019.
The skies denied them a planned royal flypast, but the Red Arrows are still due to cut across Windsor, watched by Trump alongside UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. The day will culminate with a lavish state banquet in the castle’s halls, where both Trump and the King are expected to deliver speeches — a blend of ceremony and diplomacy that signals not just the endurance, but the pageantry, of the so-called “special relationship.”