King Charles appeared to have been forced to step in and move US President Joe Biden along as they inspected troops during a meeting at Windsor Castle today.
The monarch warmly greeted the American leader in the castle's quadrangle, shaking hands with Mr Biden - who is on a flying visit to the UK, as a guard of honour stood nearby.
In front of the two men was a Guard of Honour formed by The Prince of Wales’s Company from the Welsh Guards. The Guardsmen gave a royal salute and the American national anthem was played by the Band of the Welsh Guards when the visiting head of state arrived.
Mr Biden, accompanied by the King, walked onto the grassed area of the quadrangle to inspect the Guardsmen who stood in two rows. But at one point, when the president stopped to chat with one of the guards, the King appeared to step in to move the president along who seemed to want to continue the conversation.
But despite the seemingly awkward moment, the two men returned to the dias in the quadrangle, with the president even putting an arm around the King's back. It came moments after the two men were seen sharing a joke as the two men shook hands upon first meeting. Mr Biden even touched the King’s right arm with his free hand and Charles returned the gesture.
After the welcome ceremony, the pair took tea in the castle's Oak Room, His Majesty's personal sitting room overlooking the castle’s famous Quadrangle. The meeting lasted around 20 minutes, with just a handful of advisors from each side present and went on longer than planned as the two men were getting on so well.
Afterwards, the King invited his guest to view a display of items from the Royal Collection in the White Drawing Room related to the Royal Family’s relationship with previous Presidents of the United States including President Roosevelt, President Kennedy and President Eisenhower.
The display included a letter from Queen Elizabeth II to President Eisenhower following his visit to Balmoral Castle in 1959. Written in January 1960, it included a recipe for the ‘drop scones’ the President had so admired during his visit to her private Scottish home the previous year. The letter was chosen as this visit also marked the first time a young Prince Charles - then aged 10 - had met a serving US President.
After a few minutes, the King and President walked through to the Green Drawing Room, where two uniformed members of staff had waited patiently for several minutes to dramatically open a set of gilded doors to herald their arrival.
Inside were around 50 to 60 participants of the Climate Finance Mobilisation Forum, who had met earlier at a nearby hotel. The Forum has brought together financial and philanthropic leaders from the UK and the USA to strengthen commitments to climate action with emerging markets and developing economies.
The two men stood next to each other smiling warmly as they were briefed on the morning’s activities by energy secretary Grant Shapps and John Kerry, the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, before making their way around the tables meeting and greeting the representatives.
Outside the window, no less than five presidential helicopters could be seen parked on the lawn of the East Terrance, in addition to a fleet of more than ten vehicles that accompanied President Biden from the helicopter to the castle.
Earlier today, Mr Biden was given a warm welcome on the steps of Downing Street by Rishi Sunak - amid a huge international backlash over the use of cluster munitions in Ukraine.
The two leaders smiled and shook hands before heading to the garden for crunch talks ahead of a Nato summit in Lithuania tomorrow. Ahead of the half-hour meeting Mr Sunak was urged to press Mr Biden on the decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine - having said he "discourages" their use.
