Joe Biden has revealed that he will not be attending King Charles III’s coronation and that his wife Jill Biden will be going without him.
The White House confirmed in a readout of Biden’s call with the King, shared on 4 April, that the first lady will be going to the coronation in May to represent the US.
“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 statement read.
The White House said that Biden “conveyed his desire to meet with the King in the United Kingdom at a future date”. In addition to discussing the coronation, the pair’s call was also about “underscoring the strength of the relationship between [their] countries and the friendship between [their] peoples”.
According to The Telegraph, many guests who received the “save the date” card for the King’s big day have been asked to tell the palace if they’re attending or not by Monday.
In September, Biden and his wife also visited the UK to join a plethora of world leaders at Westminster Abbey in paying their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
While the US President may be missing the coronation in May, some other famous faces are expected to be at the ceremony. As David Beckham and his wife Victoria Beckham attended the Queen’s funeral in September, they are expected to get an invite to the King’s coronation.
Former Grey’s Anatomy star Sandra Oh attended the Queen’s funeral as a part of the Canadian delegation, alongside musicians Gregory Charles and Olympic gold medallist swimmer Mark Tewksbury. So, it could be likely that she’ll be at the coronation.
In addition, it has been reported that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex received an invitation to the event via “email correspondence”, following the release of Prince Harry’s tell-all book, Spare, which featured multiple allegations about the royal family. However, the couple haven’t confirmed if they will be attending or not.
Multiple members of the royal family are expected to be at the coronation, including Prince William, Kate Middleton, and Prince Andrew.
The coronation is set to take place on 6 May 2023 at “Westminster Abbey, London and will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury,” according to a statement from Buckingham Palace. This is the first coronation in 70 years, as the last one was in 1953, when the Queen was crowned at the age of 27.
Charles turned 74 years old in November 2022, making him the oldest person to be crowned in British history. There are expected to be 2,000 guests in attendance, a stark contrast to the 8,000 guests present at the Queen’s coronation.
The Independent has contacted a representative for Buckingham Palace and The White House for comment.
