Trump Arrives Late but Avoids Protocol Breach During Windsor Meeting with King Charles

President Donald Trump arrived late to a ceremonial meeting with King Charles at Windsor on Wednesday but, despite a brief flurry of attention over his movements, Buckingham Palace sources said he did not breach royal protocol.

Trump and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, were scheduled to land by Marine One at 11:55 a.m. for a reception in the Walled Garden where they were to be greeted by Prince William and Catherine, the Princess of Wales, before meeting the King and Queen Consort Camilla. The helicopter touched down at 12:14 p.m., and the Trumps emerged at about 12:16 p.m., roughly 21 minutes after the planned arrival time and 12 minutes after Charles and Camilla had arrived by car.

The timing drew attention because state visits typically run on tightly controlled schedules with military-style precision. The late arrival followed a comparison to Trump’s 2019 state visit, when he was criticised for stepping ahead of the late Queen Elizabeth II during the inspection of the guard of honour at Windsor. On Wednesday, video showed Trump walk ahead of the King while speaking with Lieutenant Colonel Green of the Coldstream Guards during the inspection. Palace officials said the King had invited the president to walk in front of him, a courtesy he has reportedly extended to other visiting heads of state.

During their greeting, the two men exchanged a warm embrace and a firm handshake, with Trump placing a hand on the King’s upper arm. Palace sources and the royal household have said there are no fixed rules governing physical gestures when meeting the King and Queen and that what constitutes appropriate conduct is a matter of courtesy. The official King and Queen website states there are "no obligatory codes of behaviour" when meeting them.

The King’s public manner has grown more relaxed at some engagements in recent years, officials say. In previous meetings he has accepted informal greetings, including a fist bump with the West Indies cricket team and an elbow-hold with French President Emmanuel Macron at Blenheim Palace in 2024. In July 2023, Charles welcomed then-President Joe Biden at Windsor as the two men exchanged friendly physical contact while preparing to listen to a performance by the Welsh Guards; a Buckingham Palace source at that time said, "His Majesty the King is entirely comfortable with that kind of contact."

Observers have previously scrutinised Trump’s handshake style, which has at times drawn public comment and mockery. Past episodes include a protracted handshake with Macron at Bastille Day in 2017 and another extended grip at a 2018 White House meeting. Still, palace officials defended those encounters in past state visits and treated them as social rather than procedural breaches.

Wednesday’s reception and the broader three-day state visit are being watched closely by international media as a high-profile diplomatic engagement. The King invited Trump to the state visit following the US president’s reelection, making this the president’s second state visit to the United Kingdom. Buckingham Palace declined to comment beyond confirming the timing of events and saying the King had been content with the arrangements and conduct during the inspection and the meeting.

The remainder of the state visit programme will include formal ceremonial events and bilateral discussions aimed at reinforcing ties between the United Kingdom and the United States. Royal and palace sources have indicated that flexibility in greeting styles has become more common in recent years, and that such choices are typically handled on a case-by-case basis between the sovereign and visiting leaders.

Whatever the precise etiquette, journalists and onlookers are likely to continue scrutinising interactions between the president and the royal household during the visit, as photographs and video of diplomatic gestures remain a focal point of public attention.