Melania Trump greets King Charles, Queen Camilla and Princess of Wales with handshake instead of curtsy

First Lady Melania Trump greeted King Charles III, Queen Camilla and the Princess of Wales with a handshake rather than a curtsy on Wednesday as she and President Donald Trump were formally received at Windsor Castle for a state visit.

Neither the First Lady, 55, nor the President, 79, bowed before members of the royal party at the start of the engagement. The Royal Family’s official guidance notes that members of the public are not obliged to curtsy or bow to the sovereign and that a handshake is an acceptable form of greeting; within the royal household, however, members of the family are expected to curtsey or bow to the monarch and to those of higher rank.

The Trumps arrived at Windsor after a brief delay to an itinerary that called for a carriage procession and a state lunch in the State Dining Room. Media reports said the president and first lady emerged from Marine One at 12:16 p.m.; the King and Queen arrived in the state Bentley at about 12:02 p.m. Camilla wore a sapphire-blue ensemble by Fiona Clare with a Philip Treacy hat and a sapphire and diamond brooch. The Princess of Wales wore an Emilia Wickstead dress and a hat by Jane Taylor. The first lady attended the reception in a Christian Dior Haute Couture dark gray skirt suit with a wide-brimmed hat and had worn a floor-length Burberry trench coat on arrival in London the day before.

The visit, the second state visit by Mr. Trump to the United Kingdom, is being staged at Windsor Castle while Buckingham Palace undergoes renovation. The itinerary includes a tour of St. George’s Chapel and a wreath-laying at the Tomb of Queen Elizabeth II later in the day, followed by a state dinner at Windsor Castle where both the president and the king are scheduled to speak.

Organizers and media reports have said the trip will include a sizable U.S. business delegation and announcements tied to trade and investment. Some reports described anticipated financial commitments as reaching “tens of billions” of dollars; discussions are also expected on defense and nuclear cooperation and on matters to be raised with Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Tradition on how to greet the sovereign has varied among visiting dignitaries. During the late Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama did not bow on their 2011 state visit, and Michelle Obama was reported to have curtsied when she later met the Queen in private in 2009. Foreign royals have also followed different practices: during a 2017 state visit, Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia greeted the late Queen with a kiss on the cheek and a handshake, respectively.

The president is traveling with daughter Tiffany Trump and her husband, Michael Boulos; Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were not on the guest list for this visit. Royal aides said the Queen had been resting earlier in the week after withdrawing from a funeral engagement because of acute sinusitis but was well enough to greet the visiting party on Wednesday.

Officials said the reception at Windsor will combine ceremonial elements with diplomatic and commercial discussions as the two countries mark post-Brexit ties and longstanding security cooperation. Both sides emphasized the visit’s blend of state pageantry and policy-focused meetings, with the formal greeting at Victoria House marking the public start of the program.