The King and Queen should delay their visit to the United States if the war in the Middle East continues, a former British ambassador has said.
Charles and Camilla are due to visit Washington and New York next month. But Sir Peter Westmacott, who served as a UK ambassador in Washington from 2012-16, said the visit should be delayed if the Iran-US war is ongoing because it would be “problematic” for the King.
His comments comes amid wider calls for the King’s visit to be cancelled after president Donald Trump rebuked Sir Keir Starmer over the UK’s response to the war in the Middle East.
Speaking on The Royals, a podcast hosted by The Times, Sir Westmacott said: “I personally think that at the moment, while this war is continuing, it is problematic. The United States government is conducting a war, which the British government initially thought was clearly illegal.”
He added: “Both the prime minister and I imagine the palace will be asking themselves, ‘What does British public opinion really feel about this? How will a state visit to the United States at this time be perceived, how will it be felt? Is this indicative of the King … endorsing what the president of the United States is doing?’ While this goes on, that must be a matter for discussion.”
The former UK diplomat also referred to some of the US’s actions in its conflict with Iran as “war crimes”, pointing to the bombing of a girls' school during the initial strikes.
However, Sir Westmacott suggested the visit should be postponed rather than cancelled as a way to better manage the UK’s relationship with the US.
He said: “It is too important a relationship for us to mess with and to risk antagonising a somewhat thin-skinned president.”
King Charles has played a vital role in easing relations between the UK and Mr Trump, with the US president’s second state visit last year having been seen as a broad success.
The upcoming state visit would coincide with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the US declaration of independence, a first by a British monarch since Queen Elizabeth II accepted an invitation from George W Bush in 2007.
In a poll of 12,000 people in the UK, published last week by YouGov, 46 per cent said the King’s visit to the US should be cancelled, while 36 per cent said it should go ahead.
In a separate poll, published on the same day, 37 per cent said they “strongly oppose” the military action the US has taken against Iran.
Sir Westmacott told The Times podcast the government had “a duty to protect the monarchy in a situation like this” and “a duty to reflect public opinion in this country”.
Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, has also called for the visit to be cancelled.
The Liberal Democrat leader said Mr Trump should not be afforded “yet another huge diplomatic coup” after launching what he called “an illegal war” on Iran.
“Keir Starmer should advise the King that the state visit to the US scheduled for April should be called off,” he said.
“At a time when Trump has launched an illegal war that is devastating the Middle East and pushing up energy bills for British families, it’s clear this visit should not go ahead.”
Labour backbenchers also joined the call to cancel the state visit with one quoted as saying: “It would be good to cancel and send a message.”
Buckingham Palace was approached for comment.
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