Donald Trump Hosts King Charles and Queen Camilla at White House State Dinner

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump hosted King Charles and Queen Camilla at the White House for a state dinner in Washington on Tuesday, with the event framed by the White House as honouring the relationship between the US and the UK.

“Fashion, billionaires and jokes: Inside the White House state dinner for the King and Queen Shades of pink set the tone for the evening as US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed King Charles and Queen Camilla to the White House, with a foyer draped in cherry blossoms creating the ceremonial backdrop”

BBC

The BBC described the evening’s setting as a foyer “draped in cherry blossoms” and said the dinner celebrated “the deep-rooted ties and shared history between the countries.”

BBC

The Independent reported that the formal state dinner drew a wide-ranging guest list that included Jeff Bezos, Yvette Cooper, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy, while the BBC said the White House invited “more than 100 people.”

The Times reported that the press pool was ushered out and that it was now a “closed door dinner,” while also noting that the East Room “only fits 120 people.”

The Independent said the White House served a “three-course meal and dessert made with honey from Melania Trump’s beehive,” and the BBC provided menu details including a garden herb velouté paired with “hearts of palm salad” and a “sweet beehive-shaped chocolate gâteau.”

In his toast, Trump highlighted the “special relationship” between the two countries, and King Charles made jokes at the dinner, including a reference to Mr Trump’s proposed East Wing ballroom compared to the British burning of the White House in 1814.

The guest list for the state dinner, as published by The Independent, included a mix of senior British and American officials, Supreme Court justices, and technology leaders, with the paper listing President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump alongside King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

The Independent’s list named Supreme Court justices Samuel Alito and wife Martha-Ann Alito, Amy Coney Barrett and husband Jesse Barrett, and Neil Gorsuch and wife Marie Louise Gorsuch, as well as Brett Kavanaugh and former political aide Ashley Kavanaugh.

New York Post

It also included U.S. senators such as John Barrasso of Wyoming and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and it named U.S. cabinet officials including Scott Bessent, secretary of the treasury, and Howard Lutnick, secretary of commerce.

The BBC’s account similarly emphasized the breadth of the guest list, saying it included “six Supreme Court justices” and “billionaire business owners and prominent conservative allies,” and it named Justices Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, John Roberts and Clarence Thomas.

The BBC also listed technology leaders who had earlier met the King at Blair House, including Jeff Bezos, accompanied by his wife Lauren Sanchez, and Apple CEO Tim Cook, while also naming Fox News hosts Greg Gutfeld, Laura Ingraham and Bret Baier.

Politico focused specifically on which Brits were on the guest list, naming U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and her Principal Private Secretary Caroline Hurndall, and it also identified Varun Chandra as the prime minister’s special envoy to the U.S. on trade and investment.

A central moment of the dinner was King Charles’s gift to President Trump: a bell from the World War II-era British submarine HMS Trump.

“Skip to Main Content Up next Charles touts NATO, jokes with Trump Apr 28, 2026”

Politico

The BBC said the King presented the president with “a bell from the tower of the HMS Trump,” describing it as “a Royal Navy submarine first launched in 1944 that served in the Battle of the Pacific during WW2.”

The New York Post reported that King Charles III presented President Trump with “the bell from a World War II-era British submarine — dubbed the HMS Trump — at the White House state dinner Tuesday,” and it quoted Charles saying, “May it stand as a testimony to our nations’ shared history and shining future,” describing the offering as his “personal gift.”

The Times wrote that the King presented Trump with the bell from the submarine HMS Trump and included the line, “Should you ever need to get hold of us just give us a ring,” while Politico similarly quoted the quip about giving “a ring.”

The Sun described the gift as part of a broader charm offensive, saying Charles handed over “the golden bell from Royal Navy submarine HMS Trump,” and it added that Charles told Trump the gift was a sign of “our shared history and shining future.”

Across the coverage, the bell was presented during the state dinner’s formal toasts, with the BBC also noting that the King joked, “if you ever need to get hold of us….just give us a ring.”

King Charles’s remarks blended humour with alliance messaging, while President Trump’s remarks tied the relationship to defence and Iran.

The Times reported that the King won laughs when he pulled up the president on a claim about European countries speaking German, quoting Charles: “Dare I say that, if it wasn’t for us, you’d be speaking French.”

The Sun

The Sun described Charles’s toast as gag-laden and said he raised laughs with jokes about “soccer” and speaking French, while also noting that he “hammered home the close ties between Britain and America.”

In the same dinner, the Times said Trump’s speech was “largely warm and complimentary” but also “notable” because he “mentioned Iran, but also brought in the King,” adding that Trump claimed Iran had been “militarily defeated” and cannot produce a nuclear weapon.

The New York Post reported that Trump revealed Charles “agrees” that Iran can never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon, quoting Trump: “Charles agrees with me even more than I do — we’re never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon.”

Politico reported that King Charles hailed NATO and the U.S.-U.K. trade and defense relationship, quoting him: “Our people have fought and fallen together in defense of the values we cherish across the ocean and from coast to coast.”

The dinner’s presentation and logistics were described in detail, including the dress code and the White House’s account of decor and menu.

“KING Charles poured on the charm at a lavish White House dinner – delighting guests with jokes about “soccer” and speaking French”

The Sun

The BBC said the dress code was “white tie attire, the most formal dress code,” and it described Melania Trump’s outfit as a “pale delphinium pink silk strapless gown by Christian Dior Haute Couture” paired with “off-white Dior suede gloves.”

The Times

The BBC described Queen Camilla’s outfit as a “deep pink Fiona Clare evening gown,” and it said she wore an “amethyst and diamond necklace gifted by a former Duchess of Kent to Queen Victoria and then passed to Queen Mary.”

For the decor, the BBC said the White House stated it was “inspired by English gardens,” and it described the room as featuring “towering trees and blossoming boxes of lilac,” with tables dressed in “green linens” and “seasonal spring bouquets featuring butterfly ranunculus, phlox, and lily of the valley.”

The BBC added that place settings included “more than 250 pieces of vermeil from the White House collection,” alongside “hand-painted menus.”

The Times reported that demand for the dinner was high and that “many being turned down or refused plus-ones” because the East Room “only fits 120 people,” and it linked that to “urgency on Trump’s ballroom project.”