First lady heads to the UK for King Charles coronation

by Julia Mueller - 05/04/23 6:48 PM ET

US First Lady Jill Biden waves to the media as she arrives in Downing Street to meet Akshata Murty wife of the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London, Friday, May 5, 2023. The First Lady is in London to attend the Coronation of King Charles III, on Saturday May, 6.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

First lady Jill Biden on Thursday kicked off a trip to the United Kingdom for the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday.

“Headed to the U.K. for the Coronation of King Charles III — the first in 70 years!” Biden wrote in an Instagram post, sharing a photo of herself waving from a plane’s boarding stairs.

“It’s an honor to represent the United States for this historic moment and celebrate the special relationship between our countries,” she added.

The impending coronation of King Charles comes seven decades after the coronation of his mother and royal predecessor, Queen Elizabeth II. The queen died last September, ending what was the longest reign for a British head of state in the nation’s history.

King Charles is now set to be crowned at Westminster Abbey in London this weekend alongside his wife, Camilla, who will be made queen consort. According to Buckingham Palace, the pair will be attended by a congregation of more than 2,200 people, including members of the royal family, the representatives of 203 countries, and roughly 100 heads of state.

President Biden spoke last month with King Charles, according to the White House, to congratulate the monarch on the impending coronation and announce that the first lady would be attending on behalf of the U.S. He also stressed the U.K.-U.S. friendship and “conveyed his desire to meet with the King in the United Kingdom at a future date.”