Last week, we learned that there are tentative plans for King Charles and Queen Camilla to gallop to America next April, ahead of our Semiquincentennial. The more I think about it, it’s actually a wise decision for Charles and Cam to schedule the visit in April and not on or around the 4th of July. They’ll still be able to mark the occasion but they won’t linger around unwanted for the celebrations in July. Obviously, if Charles does make it to America, there will be months of speculation about whether he’ll see Prince Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lili. In the nearly six years since the Sussexes moved to California, Charles has never visited them or spent more than a few minutes with his two ginger grandkids. Well, Robert Jobson has decided to declare that Charles will obviously have no interest in stopping by Montecito!

Two and a half centuries after the revolution across the Atlantic severed the imperial bond, the King and Queen are set to visit the United States as the nation marks 250 years of independence. The irony is deliberate but understated. A direct descendant of George III, the monarch who lost the American colonies, will help honour the superpower they became. It is a diplomatic circle closing. What Charles’s fifth great-grandfather might have regarded with disbelief, President Donald Trump appears eager to stage with operatic flourish. For him, it is theatre fused with symbolism. For the King, it is duty, legacy, and measured resolve. The visit would be a milestone for a monarch visiting Britain’s closest ally.

The visit, which Buckingham Palace has not yet confirmed, is expected to span no more than four days in April 2026, anchored in Washington. Meetings at the White House, ceremonial obligations, and official engagements will be compressed into a schedule designed for maximum impact.

Meanwhile, there is the question of whether the King will visit his younger son the Duke of Sussex and grandchildren Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four, in California. But there will be no detour. While some close to the palace quietly suggest the Sussexes could travel east for a discreet meeting in Washington, their presence would dominate headlines, eclipsing the state visit, so for that reason, it remains improbable.

There is also talk that Charles and Camilla could be accompanied by the Prince and Princess of Wales. Sources stress it is not impossible but unlikely, since this would be a state visit with the King as the principal actor.

However, it’s thought President Trump – who has made no secret of his admiration for William and Kate – may invite them to some of the surrounding festivities. The football World Cup, set to take place in the US next summer, is another incentive for William to make the trip across the Atlantic.

[From Hello]

The Sussexes’ presence in California has really broken the brains of the left-behind Windsors and their media allies. They act like it would be totally unheard-of for a monarch to tack on some private events during a state visit, or that a monarch would never visit another country in a private capacity. QEII did both – she was fond of several American horse ranches, and she visited them privately during her reign. She and the other royals used to visit various American cities with some regularity too, during official and unofficial visits. My point is that no one would think anything of Charles tacking on a day spent privately in Montecito at the end of his state visit. People would find it normal and parental, actually. But hey, this kind of speculation increases the buzz for Charles’s visit, and now everyone will be focused on whether father and son see each other. Which is the whole point.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Meghan’s IG.