Donald Trump's state visit to the UK: Meghan to miss out on welcoming US president as details of trip revealed

US President Donald Trump with the Queen
PA Wire/PA Images

Donald Trump will be welcomed by the Queen and the royal family during his state visit but new mother the Duchess of Sussex will be missing, Buckingham Palace has announced.

A ceremonial welcome will be staged in the palace's garden on the first day of his three-day trip next month.

The Queen will be joined by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall for the welcome, which will take place instead of the usual Horse Guards Parade venue in Whitehall - a decision likely due to security concerns.

The Duke of Sussex will be at the private palace lunch held on the first day for the Trumps but wife Meghan, whose son Archie will be less than four weeks old when the President arrives, will not.

New mother Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex will miss out on the US president's visit
PA Wire/PA Images

Meghan made her views of Mr Trump known in a 2016 interview for a US television show when she described him as "misogynistic" and "divisive".

At the state banquet, a lavish white-tie dinner staged in the palace's ballroom, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will join the Queen and Charles and Camilla for the event, which will feature leading figures from UK national life and prominent Americans in Britain.

The US president will also have tea with the heir to the throne and his wife during the first day and on the second visit Downing Street for talks with Prime Minister Theresa May just a few days before she steps down from office.

File photo: The Queen, Prince Philip and the Prince of Wales will host Trump at Buckingham Palace
EPA

Mr Trump is reportedly bringing his grown up children with him when he visits the UK - daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, both advisers to the President, along with her siblings Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump.

When the state visit was announced in April, Mrs May hailed it as an opportunity for the UK and US "to strengthen our already close relationship", while the White House said it would "reaffirm the steadfast and special relationship" between the two nations.

But confirmation of the trip was condemned at the time by shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, who said the President had "systematically assaulted all the shared values that unite our two countries".

Security around the visit is expected to be tight and the organisation, Stand Up To Trump, has pledged to mobilise huge numbers to protest against it.

File photo: President Trump with Mrs May on his last UK visit
Hannah McKay/Reuters

During the second day of the state visit, Mrs May and the US president will co-host a business breakfast meeting, attended by the Duke of York, at St James's Palace.

The US president will then visit Downing Street to hold talks with the Prime Minister followed by a joint press conference.

That evening the Trumps will host a return dinner at Winfield House, the residence of the US ambassador, which Charles and Camilla will attend on behalf of the Queen.

On Wednesday June 5, the Queen and Charles will attend the national commemorative event for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings at Southsea Common, Portsmouth.

More than 300 Day veterans will be at the ceremony which aims to tell the story of D-Day through musical performance, testimonial readings and military displays, including a fly-past of 25 modern and historical aircraft.

The Queen will then formally bid farewell to the Trumps in Portsmouth.

Mr Trump's first trip to the UK as president sparked controversy last year and critics have said he should not have been given the honour of an official state visit.

The visit comes after Mrs May announced that she would resign as Tory leader on June 7.

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