White House says Biden’s decision to skip King Charles’s coronation is not a snub

First Lady Jill Biden will attend coronation ‘on behalf of the United States’

The White House has defended President Joe Biden’s decision not to attend the coronation of King Charles III next month after it was announced First Lady Jill Biden would be attending “on behalf of the United States”.

On 5 April, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about Mr Biden’s decision as head of state not to attend the upcoming coronation of the King and Queen on 6 May during a press conference, and whether it would be construed as a “snub”.

In response, Ms Jean-Pierre reiterated that Mr Biden had a 25- to 30-minute call with the British monarch on Tuesday, during which the president “congratulated the King” ahead of the coronation.

“They had a very friendly conversation. They have a good relationship,” the press secretary continued, adding that Biden also talked about how much he and the first lady enjoyed visiting Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor in 2021 and that he “hoped to visit again soon”.

According to Ms Jean-Pierre, during the call on Tuesday, the King invited Mr Biden to come for an official state visit, “which the president accepted”. However, she noted that she didn’t have a “timeline” about when the state visit would be.

“So they will see each other again very soon, so I’ll leave it there. But again, they have a very good relationship, there are many, key things that they both care about, key values and shared issues that they want to continue to discuss, like climate change, and that conversation will continue,” the press secretary said. “And there will be a visit in the near future.”

During the press conference, Ms Jean-Pierre also faced a question about whether there was concern that the “British people might see it as a snub” that Mr Biden will not be attending the coronation.

“I know presidents haven’t gone in the past, but now we have airplanes and modern technology that makes these kinds of trips easy to do,” the reporter noted.

In response, the press secretary denied the suggestion, stating: “Not at all. Again, the president has a good relationship with the King, they had a friendly conversation, and I will leave it at that. It is not a snub.”

As for whether Mr Biden will meet with the King next week during his scheduled visit to Ireland and Northern Ireland, Ms Jean-Pierre said she did not currently have any information to share regarding who the president would be meeting with. However, she said Mr Biden is “eager to visit the United Kingdom and Ireland, two nations who we have close ties with”.

The insistence that the president’s absence next month should not be taken as a “snub” comes after the White House announced in a statement Tuesday that the first lady would be attending the coronation without her husband.

“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 statement read. “The President also conveyed his desire to meet with the King in the United Kingdom at a future date.”

On Tuesday, Buckingham Palace unveiled the official invites for the upcoming coronation, which will be reproduced on recycled card and invite some 2,000 guests to the “coronation of their majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla”.