Day: September 15, 2025

Britain is preparing to welcome President Donald Trump with a distinction no American leader has ever received: a second state visit. When Trump arrives at Windsor Castle on Wednesday, he will be greeted by the Prince and Princess of Wales and then King Charles III and Queen Camilla with the full trappings of royal ceremony—a guard of honor, a carriage procession, and a banquet at the Waterloo Table.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

Such a spectacle is considered the United Kingdom’s highest form of diplomatic hospitality, and one that American Presidents do not usually experience twice. Subsequent visits to the United Kingdom are more normally recognized with tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle, as was the case for George W. Bush in 2008 and Barack Obama in 2016. The decision to once again fete Trump, a longtime admirer of the British royal family, underscores Britain’s calculation that the unique honor may help smooth ties at a delicate diplomatic moment.

Trump will be accompanied by his wife, Melania Trump, during the three-day visit. Trump was last invited for a state visit in 2019 during his first term, when he was hosted by Charles’ late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

For British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the unprecedented gesture appears to be an attempt to bind an unpredictable partner more tightly to Britain’s side while avoiding the trade frictions and diplomatic rifts that have dogged some of America’s other allies since Trump’s return to power. During a meeting at the White House in February, Starmer hand-delivered to Trump the invitation for a second state visit from the King. “It’s a great, great honor, and that says at Windsor,” Trump said as he praised the King. “That’s really something.”

Trump’s visit is expected to draw large protests, including a “Trump Not Welcome” demonstration in London on Wednesday organized by the Stop Trump Coalition, the same group that protested his visit in 2018 and drew around 250,000 attendees. Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has said he will boycott the banquet for Trump’s state visit to “send a message” to the U.S. president and Starmer over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Trump’s latest visit comes on the heels of a massive anti-migrant protest in London over the weekend organized by far-right activist Tommy Robinson. The ““Unite the Kingdom” rally drew more than 110,000 people, spawning clashes with police and dozens of arrests.

Read more: U.K. Urged to Sanction Musk After ‘Dangerous Remarks’ at Anti-Migrant Rally

Here’s what to know about Trump’s second state visit to Britain.

A personal fascination

Trump has long been fixated by the British monarchy, which he attributes in part to his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, who emigrated from Scotland and insisted on watching every televised appearance by Queen Elizabeth II.

“She was a big fan of the queen, I have to tell you,” Trump told podcaster Miranda Devine in July. “And anytime the queen was on television, my mother liked watching. She said, ‘Oh, the queen’s on.’”

Trump has since admired the Royals and attempted to become friends with the family. As a real estate developer in the 1980s, he touted his connection to the Royals after hosting Prince Charles for tea at Mar-a-Lago. Later, he pursued Princess Diana with grand gestures and once lamented in a memoir that he had never had the chance to court her. “I only have one regret in the women department—that I never had the opportunity to court Lady Diana Spencer,” he wrote in his 1997 book The Art of the Comeback.

After meeting the Queen in his first term, Trump said he felt a sense of awe: “I was walking up and I was thinking, ‘Can you imagine my mother seeing the scene?’” Trump said in an interview with Piers Morgan in 2018.

“She is so sharp, so wise, so beautiful,” he added.

In 2023, President Joe Biden, who had long held a discomfort with the British monarchy, opted to not attend King Charles’ coronation. But Trump made clear he saw the event differently. “I think it’s a very important event, I think it’s a great thing,” he said of the coronation during an interview at the time with right-wing British parliamentarian Nigel Farage. “A lot of people talk about the monarchy, should you have it or should you not. I think it’s a fantastic thing. It holds your country together, largely.”

An unprecedented second state visit

Trump will become the first American president to be honored with two state visits to Britain, a distinction that underscores both his unusual bond with the royal family and Starmer’s desire to keep close ties with Washington.

In her seven decades on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II hosted just four American presidents for such visits, and none of them returned a second time. Trump’s first came in 2019, when he was received at Buckingham Palace by the late Queen, who presided over a banquet in his honor and rode with him in a gilded carriage down the Mall.

“This has never happened before; this is unprecedented,” Starmer said in the Oval Office in February when he delivered the written invitation from King Charles.

Trump and his wife Melania will arrive in the United Kingdom on Tuesday evening, but the pageantry will begin on Wednesday. They will first be greeted by the Prince and Princess of Wales—William and Catherine—and will then meet with King Charles and Queen Camilla as a royal salute is fired from Windsor Castle’s lawn. 

Afterwards, they will board carriages and proceed through the Windsor estate toward the castle. Trump and the first lady will have lunch with the extended royal family, view items from the royal collection in the Green Drawing Room, and then lay a wreath at the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II in St. George’s Chapel. In the evening, they will attend a state banquet at Windsor Castle.

Melania will also join Camilla for a tour of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House and the Royal Library at Windsor Castle. She will also attend a scouting event on the castle’s grounds with Kate on Thursday.

What Britain hopes to get out of Trump’s visit

After the pageantry in Windsor, attention will shift on Thursday when Trump meets Starmer at Chequers, the prime minister’s country retreat. There, the two leaders are expected to discuss a series of difficult issues: finalizing the terms of a long-discussed trade arrangement, aligning approaches to the war in Ukraine, and expanding cooperation on energy security. The U.S. and Britain also plan to announce more than $10 billion in economic deals during Trump’s visit, Bloomberg reported.

Starmer has so far managed to shield the United Kingdom from the kinds of punishing tariffs that Trump has levied on other allies, but he’s being urged by British lawmakers to secure that exemption more firmly, according to a report by the Business and Trade Committee, a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

“It is however now vital that government maximises pressure on the United States, beginning and following the president’s state visit, to agree final terms for a lasting economic prosperity deal to end the threat of future sectoral tariffs, maximise predictability and that where the UK has secured terms which are second best to the EU, we aim to improve them,” the Committee said in its report.

Starmer is also pressing to lock in the details of a new trade pact that could give British exporters broader access to American markets while protecting politically sensitive industries. On energy, he wants to build on the nuclear cooperation agreement signed in July and turn it into concrete projects that could ease Britain’s soaring costs and accelerate its transition toward renewables.

The British prime minister is also expected to seek reassurance on security as Russia’s war in Ukraine continues. Starmer and his advisers want to keep Trump committed to NATO and to provide security guarantees to Ukraine if a peace deal is reached with Russia.

• Taking a cruise for the first time can be overwhelming, with so many things to do and see on board.
• To help you prepare, seasoned cruisers on Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas shared their tips.
• They said you should snag pool chairs early and avoid flying in on the day your ship departs.

It feels like no one talks about how overwhelming a cruise can be if you’ve never taken one before.

First-time cruisers experience an entirely new form of transportation. When you’re traveling on a large ship with so many places to eat and so many activities and excursions, it can be hard to figure out how to spend your time.

It may help to hear how to make the most of your cruise from those who have done it before. While on Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas in April 2022, Business Insider talked to people who had been on multiple cruises. They shared their best tips to help plan an incredible cruise vacation.

While packing for a cruise, try to keep it light, but make sure you have all the essentials.

Frequent cruiser Sharon Taylor told Business Insider that first-timers should be careful not to overpack.

“New cruisers think cruising is a fashion show and pack way too many clothes and shoes, but you wind up just wanting to be comfortable,” she said.

Taylor said she brought two bathing suits, four pairs of shorts, two pairs of shoes, one formal outfit, eight pairs of underwear, and six tops for a seven-night cruise on board the Wonder of the Seas. She planned to buy two more tops on the trip.

Paul Gallifrey, who told Business Insider in 2022 that he had been on 30 cruises, said to pack what you need for the length of the cruise, but add a few extra options just in case.

“Maybe you decide to change clothes between pool time and the buffet,” Gallifrey said. “An extra shirt and pair of shorts will come in handy.”

Gallifrey added that some activities on ships and excursions require specific clothing, such as lace-up shoes for zip lining. Check the cruise line’s website for these requirements and pack accordingly.

Don’t forget to pack a magnet to make finding your stateroom easier.

Large cruise ships typically have seemingly endless hallways of staterooms with identical doors. Taylor said to pack magnets to attach to the outside of your door to help you spot it.

“You will be glad you did when you are looking for your room down those long hallways,” Taylor added.

If you have to fly into the port your ship is leaving from, book a flight at least one day before departure to avoid missing the boat.

Unless you book airfare through a cruise-line package, the ship will leave without you if you’re late because of a delayed or canceled flight, seasoned cruiser Stephanie Franks told Business Insider.

If you book a flight with the help of Royal Caribbean and it’s delayed or canceled, their emergency travel team will get you on an earlier flight or fly you to the next port to join the cruise, according to the company’s website.

If you don’t book through the cruise line, you’ll have to figure it out yourself. Franks said her friend’s flight to Miami got canceled the day before her cruise because of the weather in Florida.

“They hopped in a car and drove 19 hours straight to get here on time. You just never know,” she said. “But best to be prepared and early rather than late.”

She recommended flying in at least one day before the ship’s departure to leave extra time for delays and cancellations. She said to stay near the port, adding that there were plenty of hotels in Florida with shuttles to the port.

Experienced cruisers recommend booking anything with additional costs before boarding the ship.

On cruise ships, there are often restaurants and activities included in the ticket price and some specialty restaurants that cost extra. When stopping at ports, you can also book excursions for an additional cost.

Once your trip is booked, you can often prepay for dining on the ship and excursions at the ports. Reservations generally fill up quickly, so it’s smart to get this done as soon as possible to ensure you get the experiences you want. Plus, you’ll probably pay less than if you wait until your trip.

“Do everything you can before getting on board to save money,” said Tekeshia Browne, who told Business Insider in 2022 that she’d been on over 100 cruises. She added that there are often discounts for restaurants and excursions ahead of the cruise.

If you are a new cruiser, booking excursions with the cruise line is easiest.

At each cruise port, passengers may disembark to spend their time as they wish. They might sightsee independently, take a taxi to a beach, link up with a local tour guide, or join an official cruise-line excursion.

Gallifrey said first-time cruisers would likely have the easiest time if they chose the last option.

Navigating ports can be confusing, especially if you’re taking transportation to your excursion, but if you book through the cruise line, you’ll be directed to exactly where you need to go. Some cruise-line excursions even include meals.

“If you are new to cruising and have not had experience arranging excursions, it is sometimes easier to go with the ones from the cruise line,” he said, adding that these excursions guarantee the ship would wait for you if an outing took longer than planned.

“Self-booked excursions are totally outside of this guarantee,” he said.

Some say there’s enough to eat, see, and do without spending more money outside of booking your cruise.

Some cruisers told Business Insider that everything included in the ticket price is enough for a great vacation. You can eat at multiple restaurants on the ship, participate in games and activities, attend shows, and explore the ports at no extra cost.

“You don’t really need to spend another penny after you have paid for your cruise. There are plenty of awesome free shows, foods — including the main dining room — and things to do at every port,” Taylor said. “At ports, I roam around the shops and look at the artisan stuff made by locals.”

No matter how you spend your days off or on your ship, you should always read the daily cruise planner.

On Royal Caribbean cruises, attendants deliver the daily planner, Cruise Compass, to staterooms each night.

From escape rooms and sports games to dance classes and karaoke, the ship is full of scheduled activities that you’ll know about only if you read the Cruise Compass or check the Royal Caribbean app.

Seasoned cruiser Vickie Carmody said first-timers should read this planner, adding that she skipped it during her first cruise and missed out.

“I was so bored because I didn’t know any better,” she told Business Insider. “I missed the welcome-aboard show, the quest, the poolside games like the belly-flop contest and sexiest-man contest, and a lot of the entertainment around the ship.”

If you want to just relax by the pool, get a chair early in the day before people or towels have taken them all.

Franks said that by midday on most ships, people take up chairs on pool decks by saving them with towels. So she recommended getting up early to grab a spot at about 6 a.m.

There are rules against saving chairs on cruise ships, but Franks said she has rarely seen them enforced.

“It tends to be a bigger issue on larger ships, ironically,” she said. “The smaller ships go to smaller ports, so I guess people focus more on island excursions than the pool deck.”