First lady Jill Biden stopped by 10 Downing Street in London on Friday to meet the prime minister’s wife and kick off a busy round of events around the weekend coronation of King Charles III.
Akshata Murthy, the wife of U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, greeted Mrs. Biden warmly at the iconic black front door of the prime minister’s residence, embracing her with a kiss on each cheek and saying, “Welcome, welcome.”
Mrs. Biden was accompanied by her granddaughter, Finnegan Biden, whom Ms. Murty greeted with an enthusiastic handshake.
The first lady is the most prominent U.S. representative attending the coronation on Saturday of King Charles and Her Majesty Queen Consort Camilla and has a busy schedule in London.
She will join Ms. Murthy in meeting military veterans and their families at a health and wellness program called The Fighting Chance. They will also visit the Charles Dickens Primary School, where the students are participating in coronation-related activities.
Mrs. Biden plans to visit with U.S. Embassy staff in London and will attend a reception hosted by the king at Buckingham Palace on the eve of his coronation.
Former President Donald Trump, who is running for president again, said Mr. Biden should have attended the coronation, too.
“Certainly, he should be here as our representative of our country,” Mr. Trump, who is touring golf properties in Scotland and Ireland, said in an interview with GB News in the U.K. “I was very surprised, I think it’s very disrespectful for him not to be here.”
“I don’t think he can do it physically, actually,” Mr. Trump said. “I think that it’s hard for him to do it physically.”
Mr. Biden announced last month that he would not attend the coronation and send Mrs. Biden instead.
The first couple attended the September funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, and there is precedent for a U.S. president to skip a coronation. President Dwight D. Eisenhower did not attend the late queen’s coronation in 1953, though he sent a U.S. delegation.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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