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King Charles III Met 10 US Presidents. Here’s How Each Visit Went

Photo Credit: Chris Jackson/ Getty Images/ cropped
Photo Credit: Chris Jackson/ Getty Images/ cropped

King Charles III ascended the British throne in 2022, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. While he was still a prince, one of his royal duties was to meet political leaders from other countries, including the American presidents. Although it doesn’t beat his mother’s impressive 13 presidents, sources say that King Charles has met a respectable 10. Here’s how each of these meetings went.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the British throne on February 6, 1952. As Queen, the first US President she met was Dwight D. Eisenhower who came to visit her and her family at Balmoral Castle in 1959.

Black and white photo of President Eisenhower alongside King Charles III and other members of the royal family.
President Eisenhower (center) with the British Royal family (L-R) Prince Philip, Princess Anne, HM Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Captain John Eisenhower, at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, September 1959. (Photo Credit: Fox Photos/ Hulton Archive/ Getty Images)

Eisenhower was also the first President that Charles, then Prince of Wales, would meet. He was only 11 years old. The visit was documented with a photograph that shows Charles wearing a kilt and standing next to his mother.

Richard Nixon

In 1970, Prince Charles visited President Nixon at the White House. According to the report in the New York Times, he conversed with Nixon for well over an hour, just the two of them. Apparently, the meeting ran much longer than those the President took with foreign officials.

A young King Charles III stands beside President Nixon and his family on a balcony at the White House.
President and Mrs. Nixon welcome Prince Charles and Princess Anne on the balcony of the South Portico of the White House, July 16, 1970. (Photo Credit: Bettmann/ Getty Images)

Prince Charles recalled years later that it was more than just a friendly visit. Efforts were being made to set him up with President Nixon’s daughter, Tricia. The match-making attempts, clearly, didn’t work.

Jimmy Carter

Prince Charles was also in attendance at the memorable meeting of Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen Mother, and President Jimmy Carter in 1977.

Group of world leaders wearing black tie gather for a photo.
National leaders and royalty in London as part of the G7 meeting, 1977. (L to R) Pierre Trudeau, (Prince Charles far background), Princess Margaret, Takeo Fukuda, James Callaghan, Valery Giscard d’Estaing, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Jimmy Carter, Giulio Andreotti, Helmut Schmidt. (Photo Credit: Universal History Archive/ Universal Images Group/ Getty Images)

President Carter massively violated royal protocol when he greeted the Queen Mother by kissing her on the lips.

Ronald Reagan

Prince Charles met President Ronald Reagan on more than one occasion. Their first formal visit was a meeting in the Oval Office in 1981. They allegedly talked a lot about horseback riding. Their more memorable meeting, however, was in 1985.

President Reagan in a black suit and King Charles III in a grey suit sit beside each other in high back chairs.
Prince Charles meeting President Reagan in the Oval Office at the White House, 1981. (Photo Credit: Tim Graham Photo Library/ Getty Images)

Prince Charles and Princess Diana attended a formal dinner put together by the President, where Diana wore her famous black dress and danced with John Travolta, who was also in attendance. The night was a big success, with Reagan saying “It had not a hint of ‘State Dinner’ flavor. Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time.”

George H.W. Bush

Unlike Prince Charles’ exceptional visit with President Reagan, his visit with President George H.W. Bush appeared to be the opposite. They met in 1990 and posed for the obligatory photographs.

King Charles III and President Bush both in black suits shake hands.
President George Bush (R) greets Prince Charles of Great Britain (L) in the National Cathedral at the start of funeral services for President Ronald Reagan in Washington, DC, June 11, 2004. (Photo Credit: Tim Sloan/ AFP/ Getty Images)

The two met a number of times in later years, including at Reagan’s funeral. Prince Charles also attended Bush’s own funeral on behalf of Queen Elizabeth.

Bill Clinton

Prince Charles’ meeting with President Bill Clinton was perhaps even less eventful than the meeting with Bush.

Large group of political figures gathered in the background, with the casket of Yitzhak Rabin in the forground.
Large group of international officials, including President Clinton and Prince Charles, gather for the funeral of Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin. (Photo Credit: ZOOM 77/ AFP/ Getty Images)

The two met in passing at the 1995 funeral of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin after he was assassinated.

George W. Bush

By the time Prince Charles had his next meeting with a President in 2005, he had separated from Princess Diana and she had died in a car crash. He and his new wife Camilla, traveled to the White House to visit President George W. Bush and the first lady.

King Charles III and President Bush wearing suits clink wine glasses.
Prince Charles (L) toasts President George W. Bush (R) and First Lady Laura Bush during a social dinner at the White House, November 2, 2005. (Photo Credit: Luke Frazza/ AFP/ Getty Images)

During the day, the group of four had a quiet lunch together, and in the evening they were entertained at a black-tie dinner at the White House. This was a special occasion put on for Prince Charles, as Bush was not known to host many of these formal dinners. Apparently, the Prince made a joke to Bush that he had no intentions of trying to set up his two sons with Bush’s two daughters.

Barack Obama

President Barack Obama and Prince Charles met on a number of occasions. They first met during the ceremonies at the 65th D-Day landings in France in 2009, and again in 2015 while Prince Charles and Camilla were on a US tour.

King Charles III in a blue suit and President Barrack Obama in a black suit shake hands.
Britain’s Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (L) greets US President Barack Obama during a reception for NATO summit dignitaries in Newport, September 4, 2014. (Photo Credit: Matt Dunham/ POOL/ AFP/ Getty Images)

Their longest visit, however, was in 2011 when the prince visited the White House. Of the visit, a White House press release said,”President Obama warmly welcomed the prince’s work over three decades on environmental issues, halting deforestation and encouraging sustainable food production.”

Donald Trump

While most of the prince’s visits with various US Presidents went well, that wasn’t the case for his visit with Donald Trump. Charles and Camilla were hosting the president for tea at Clarence House in 2019. Reportedly, he kept the couple waiting, showing up over an hour late.

Melania and Donald Trump stand beside King Charles III, who tilts his head down while Trump points at him.
Melania and Donald Trump, and Prince Charles attend tea at Clarence House, December 3, 2019. (Photo Credit: Chris Jackson/ WPA Pool/ Getty Images)

One of their more exciting meetings occurred during a gala for NATO leaders at Buckingham Palace during the same visit. Some believe that Prince Charles flipped off the president while he was greeting his mother, although this has not been, and never will be, confirmed.

Joe Biden

Although President Joe Biden was only elected in November 2020, Prince Charles met with him quite soon afterward at the COP26 climate summit in Scotland in 2021. They posed and shook hands for the traditional photographs. According to the president’s senior administration, “President Biden and Prince Charles discussed the importance of global cooperation in tackling climate change.”
King Charles III and President Biden shaking hands in front of a blue curtain.
President Joe Biden greets Britain’s Prince Charles during the COP26 U.N. Climate Change Conference at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, Scotland, November 2, 2021. (Photo Credit: Adam Schultz / The White House / Wikimedia Commons/ Public Domain)

More from us: Queen Elizabeth Met 13 American Presidents – And Some Meetings Were Better Than Others

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III now has a new role to take on when meeting American presidents. He will likely meet President Biden again in the future in this capacity, and potentially many other leaders as well.

Rosemary Giles

Rosemary Giles is a history content writer with Hive Media. She received both her bachelor of arts degree in history, and her master of arts degree in history from Western University. Her research focused on military, environmental, and Canadian history with a specific focus on the Second World War. As a student, she worked in a variety of research positions, including as an archivist. She also worked as a teaching assistant in the History Department.

Since completing her degrees, she has decided to take a step back from academia to focus her career on writing and sharing history in a more accessible way. With a passion for historical learning and historical education, her writing interests include social history, and war history, especially researching obscure facts about the Second World War. In her spare time, Rosemary enjoys spending time with her partner, her cats, and her horse, or sitting down to read a good book.

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