King Charles III is celebrating his official coronation on May 6 at Westminster Abbey in London—but the guest list may not be quite as high-profile as organizers once hoped. Amid the news that invited musical guests such as Adele, Elton John, and Harry Styles had all turned down the offer to perform at the monarch’s ceremony, new reports claim President Joe Biden is also a firm “no” for making the trip to the U.K.
To be clear, Biden skipping the coronation is hardly a snub—there’s no precedent for U.S. presidents to attend the coronation of a new British monarch, with President Eisenhower staying home for the late Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation back in 1953. But POTUS may have created the sense of expectation that he might fly in for Charles’s coronation with his attendance of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral back in September.
The U.S. government won’t be ignoring Charles’s coronation altogether, however: The Washington Post reports First Lady Jill Biden will lead the delegation attending in President Biden’s stead. The White House did not comment on this report, but the Post spoke with several sources familiar with the plans about how they’re planning to acknowledge the overseas event.
The coronation will occur just a few weeks after Biden makes a five-day visit to Ireland for the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement peace treaties. There are currently no plans for the president to meet with Charles after this trip, and Biden has not met with the royal since he officially became king.
As news of Biden’s alleged plans to not go to go to the coronation now makes the rounds, it of course raises the question of the other two notable American residents and where they stand: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. With the coronation now nearly exactly a month away, the Sussex couple still has yet to confirm their appearance—and it’s safe to say their attendance will make a much bigger difference to royal followers than even President Biden.
