King Charles III offers Joe Biden special invite after coronation 'snub'

King Charles III has invited U.S. President Joe Biden to go on a state visit to the U.K. following the latter's decision not to attend the coronation in May.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced during a press briefing on Wednesday, April 5, that His Majesty during a phone call "offered for [Biden] to come and do a state visit, which the president accepted so they will see each other again very soon."

However, she did not announce a timeline for the visit but said it will happen "in the near future." She said the president was "appreciative of the offer" and "looks forward" to the visit.

Jean-Pierre also shared that the call lasted between 25 and 30 minutes during which President Biden "congratulated the king" on his upcoming coronation. She shared that it was a "friendly conversation" and that they have a "good relationship." The U.S. president talked about how he enjoyed his meeting with the late Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor back in 2021, and expressed his hope to visit the U.K. again soon. The last time he was in the country was on Sept. 19, 2022, during the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

"I'll just leave it there. But again, they have a very good relationship. There are many things that they both care about," she continued and cited issues concerning climate change.

The media briefing came after the White House issued a readout on Tuesday saying that the U.S. president and King Charles III had a phone call "underscoring the strength of the relationship between our countries and the friendship between our peoples."

It also said, "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 president also conveyed his desire to meet with the king in the United Kingdom at a future date."

Donald Trump was the last U.S. president to go on a state visit to the U.K. in 2019 and the late Queen Elizabeth II hosted him at Buckingham Palace. Previous heads of state, including Barack Obama and George W. Bush, also made state visits to the country.

State visits are made at the invite of the current monarch, but they are approved and paid for by the government. Buckingham Palace has yet to announce when and where this will take place.

King Charles III's coronation will be on May 6 in London's Westminster Abbey. His Majesty's state visit invitation came following claims that President Biden snubbed the coronation invite.

But royal experts said no American president to date has ever attended the coronation of a British monarch and this goes back to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was head of state from 1953 to 1961. He sent a delegation of government officials instead to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

According to royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams, this was a significant announcement from the White House as some "totally wrongly" saw the rejection as a snub. He told Newsweek, "I don't think a state visit was automatic, but at the time of the Ukraine war the 'special relationship' between the United States and Britain is highly important."

Fitzwilliams added, "A state visit is a high point in Anglo-American relations. There might well be plans for a return state visit, which would show what an important projection of soft power the British monarchy is."

A return state visit would mean President Biden returning the favour and inviting King Charles III to the country. The last time this happened was in 2007 when Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip marked the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement.