WINDSOR, England − President Joe Biden and King Charles III, two men who waited decades to reach the tops of their careers, met for the first time Monday since the king’s coronation.
The meeting at Windsor Castle came after Biden sat down earlier in the day with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London at No. 10 Downing Street, the British leader’s official residence and office. By Monday afternoon, Biden made his way to Lithuania for a NATO summit.
Here’s what to know about Biden’s meeting with King Charles III:
English tea between a king and US president
Biden, 80, and King Charles III, 74, kicked off their meeting with the most English of traditions: breakfast tea at Windsor Castle.
Biden, elected to the Senate in 1972, ran for president twice −in 1988 and 2008 − before cracking through as the Democratic nominee in 2020. He immediately became the nation’s oldest president when he entered the White House.
Charles III waited 70 years − longer than any heir apparent in British royal history years − to take the thrown after his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was coronated in 1953.
Yet their paths to power couldn’t be more different.
Biden started as a scrappy kid from a working-class Irish Catholic family whose dad sold used cars in Wilmington, Delaware. King Charles III grew up the super-privileged son of a woman who had a lifelong love of horses and spent most of her free time on walks in the countryside with her dogs.
Royal pageantry on display
Two old diplomatic hands − Biden is 80 to the king’s 74 − leaned into the royal protocol.
Biden received a royal salute at Windsor Castle. Red-jacketed Welsh Guards played the U.S. national anthem. The photos appeared to show quite a lot of tactile, light-hearted banter of the avuncular variety.
Biden participated in the inspection of the honor guard with King Charles III, later putting his arm around the king in a sign of friendship.
Climate change, China take centerstage in talks
Their discussion was focused mainly on climate change, a topic long close to the king’s heart when he was a mere prince.
“It went well,” Biden told reporters after arriving in Lithuania, later tweeting: “It was an honor meeting with His Majesty this morning for a wide-ranging discussion on the global challenges facing our nations.”
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Biden and King Charles III also talked about China and shared stories from the past at Windsor Castle.
The White House said the meeting “underscored the strength of the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom and the friendship between our people.”
Former Sen. John Kerry, Biden’s special envoy on climate, was on hand for the meeting. Afterward, Biden and King Charles III also met with a group of leading philanthropists and investors focused on mobilizing finance to address the climate crisis, the White House said.
Why did Biden miss the king’s coronation?
The meeting at Windsor Castle also was part of a pledge by Biden to see the relatively new king after he skipped the monarch’s May coronation. He sent first lady Jill Biden to attend the historic event instead.
Why Biden chose to do that has been a source of media speculation, especially among conservative outlets. Perhaps this was about his Irish-ness? Maybe it was about Britain’s decision to leave the European Union − Brexit?
Or that he’s just generally “anti-British”?
Historians say there’s a much, much simpler explanation: No American president has ever attended a swearing in ceremony for a British monarch. Like, ever.
“I certainly don’t view it as a snub on President Biden’s part,” Laura Beers, a professor of history at American University who specializes in modern Britain, told the BBC in late April amid the news of Biden’s decision to give the coronation a miss and instead send a diplomatic delegation that included his wife, First Lady Jill Biden.
“It is a non-story in terms of the idea that Biden is anti-British,” she said at the time. “He’s not going because no American president has ever gone to a coronation, so why start in the 21st century.”
An Irishman meets an English king
Biden, who proudly talks about his Irish heritage, ruffled feathers among some English during his trip to Ireland in April.
Speaking at an Irish pub, Biden paid tribute to his cousin, Rob Kearney, a rugby player whose Irish squad defeated the dominant All Blacks team of New Zealand in 2016. But he instead referred to “Black and Tans,” the pejorative name given to British police recruits assigned to fight the Irish Republican Army in the 1920s.
The White House later corrected Biden.
In the same speech, as Biden touted the values instilled in him by his Irish-American mother, he said the “saving grace” of his father, whose lineage traces to England, was “a quarter of his family was Hanafees from Galway.” He added, “You know, Biden is English. I hate to tell you that. I don’t hate to – I’m joking – but it’s true.”
“All the times President Joe Biden has shown disdain for his UK heritage,” the British tabloid The Daily Mail wrote at the time.
Yet there were no signs animosity between the parties Monday.
Charles III’s latest of many visits with presidents
As the son of a monarch who ruled through 14 U.S. presidents, King Charles III is of course no stranger to meeting U.S. presidents.
He’s been consistently doing so since he was a child. Trump, Obama, both Bushes, Clinton, Reagan, Carter – there’s plenty of photos and newsprint to attest to these encounters.
The king has also previously met Biden. Several times, actually.
Prior to Monday, Biden’s most recent meeting with King Charles came in November 2021 at the COP26 U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland.
Contributing: Associated Press
Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.
