America’s first family has brush with royalty
President has chosen to have four children and wife accompany him on his visit to UK in June
Donald Trump will be joined by four of his children on his state visit next month, all of whom are expected to attend the state banquet with the Queen. Ivanka, Donald Jr, Eric and Tiffany Trump are all due to be with their father on his three-day visit. Mr Trump’s fifth child, Barron, 13, is not expected to join them. The Trumps will get to mix with senior members of the Royal family at the Buckingham Palace banquet on Monday June 3, which will be attended by 150 guests.
The enthusiasm of the wider Trump family to attend mirrors the fascination of many Americans with the younger royals
DONALD TRUMP will be joined by four of his children on his UK state visit next month, all of whom are expected to attend a state banquet hosted by the Queen in Buckingham Palace.
The Daily Telegraph can confirm that Ivanka, Donald Jr, Eric and Tiffany Trump are all due to be with their father on his three-day visit, despite some having no formal role with the US administration.
Eric Trump’s wife, Lara; and Ivanka Trump’s husband, Jared Kushner, will also be in attendance. Mr Trump’s fifth child, Barron, who is 13, is not expected to join. The news means that the Trump family will get to mix with the most senior members of the Royal family.
That will happen at the state banquet on Monday June 3, a white-tie dinner which will be attended by some 150 royals, politicians, advisers and other guests all gathering in Buckingham Palace’s ballroom.
Mr Trump, as a visiting head of state, has permission to choose who from his delegation attends. His children are expected to be among the lucky few selected – though exact details are still being worked out.
The Queen will host the event, giving a speech and sitting beside Mr Trump. The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will also be in attendance.
From the younger generation, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be present, given his position in direct line to the throne, but the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not attend.
Mr Trump’s decision to include members of his wider family in the delegation will raise eyebrows, given some of them do not have official government positions.
Ms Trump and Mr Kushner, aged 37 and 38, are both senior White House advisers. Both are often credited by insiders with having considerable sway on the US president’s thinking.
Donald Jr and Eric Trump, 41 and 35, are in charge of their father’s business empire, the Trump Organisation. The roles include overseeing his golf courses in Scotland and Ireland.
Tiffany Trump, who is 25 years old, studies at Georgetown law school. She has previously released a pop song and interned at the magazine Vogue and was recently spotted at New York Fashion Week.
The warmth with which Mr Trump views the British monarchy is well known. He has talked in the past about how much his Scottish mother “respected and loved” the Queen.
White House sources have said how Mr Trump often fondly recalls his first meeting with the Queen, when the pair shared tea at Windsor Castle during his UK visit last July.
The apparent enthusiasm from the wider Trump family to attend mirrors the fascination of many Americans with the younger Royal family members. Recent marriages and births have received extensive media coverage.
Mr Trump and his wife Melania, who will also attend the visit, will have tea with the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall at Clarence House. Mr Trump’s children are not expected to join them.
The decision to offer Mr Trump a state visit when Theresa May first went to the White House in January 2017 was, in part political, according to No 10 insiders at the time.
The suggestion originated from the British Embassy in Washington, according to one well-placed source, but there was a hope in the Prime Minister’s team that the visit would help bring the two leaders closer.
However, Mr Trump’s latest trip comes with Mrs May’s government on the brink of collapse, with Cabinet ministers and backbench MPS lobbying for her to announce a resignation date.
Should that happen, Mrs May is still expected to be in post for the state visit.