First Lady Melania Trump will be undertaking a joint engagement with the Princess of Wales during her and President Donald Trump's upcoming state visit to the UK. On Sept. 18, the first lady is set to join Her Royal Highness, who has been joint president of the Scout Association since 2020, at Frogmore Gardens, where they will meet with Chief Scout Dwayne Fields and members of the Scouts’ Squirrels program, as they learn about nature to achieve their "Go Wild" badge.
The day before the outing, Catherine and Prince William will greet the first lady and president on the grounds of Windsor Castle and accompany them to meet King Charles and Queen Camilla. Their Majesties will formally welcome their guests outside as a Royal Salute is fired from the East Lawn of Windsor Castle and at the Tower of London. President Trump and Melania will then join the King, Queen and Prince and Princess of Wales in a carriage procession through the Windsor estate towards the Castle.
A lunch will be held in the State Dining Room with members of the royal family, which will then be followed by a viewing of a special display of items from the Royal Collection relating to the United States of America in the Green Drawing Room. In the afternoon, the president and first lady will visit St. George’s Chapel to privately lay a wreath on the Tomb of Queen Elizabeth II. They will then be given a tour of the chapel and hear a musical performance from the chapel choir.
Later, Donald and Melania, along with the King, Queen, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria Starmer, will join US and British military families to view a Beating Retreat ceremony on the East Lawn of Windsor Castle. That night, a state banquet will take place at Windsor Castle.
During President Trump's first term, he and Melania paid a state visit to the UK in 2019 at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth. The 45th and 47th president of the United States accepted the invitation for the second "unprecedented" state visit earlier this year. The prime minister has previously emphasized: "This is an unprecedented and very special state visit. This has never been done before and there'll be many elements of it that have never been seen before. So this is going to be a historic occasion and we're all very much looking forward to it and I was very, very pleased to be able to put forward the invitation when we were at the White House earlier this year. So this is not just a state visit. They're always incredible occasions. This is an unprecedented second state visit, so you can imagine just how special that's gonna be."
President Trump has stated that he's "looking forward to" the visit. He's also said, "So it's gonna be great and being with Charles and Camilla and everybody, I've gotten to know because of four years and now six months, gotten to know a lot of the family members. They're great people. They're really great people. And in that sense, I think that the UK is very lucky."