White House addresses Biden coronation snub

The White House has defended Joe Biden’s decision not to attend King Charles’ coronation as Buckingham Palace unveiled the official portrait and invitation for the historic event.

The White House has announced First Lady Jill Biden will attend the coronation of King Charles “on behalf of the United States”.

It comes after President Joe Biden was accused of “snubbing” the event when it was revealed he would not attend the May 6 event.

On Wednesday local time, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Mr Biden had a 25- to 30-minute call with the monarch on Tuesday, during which he “congratulated the King” ahead of the coronation.

Joe Biden with the Queen at Windsor in 2021. Picture: Getty Images

“They had a very friendly conversation. They have a good relationship,” Ms Jean-Pierre said, adding that Mr Biden also talked about how much he and the Mrs Biden enjoyed visiting the late Queen at Windsor in 2021 and that he “hoped to visit again soon”.

According to Ms Jean-Pierre, King Charles offered for Mr Biden to come for an official state visit, “which the president accepted”.

There was no concrete “timeline”, however, when that visit would be.

“So they will see each other again very soon, so I’ll leave it there. But again, they have a very good relationship, there are many, key things that they both care about, key values and shared issues that they want to continue to discuss, like climate change, and that conversation will continue,” she said.

“And there will be a visit in the near future.”

Joe and Jill Biden attended the Queen’s funeral last September. Picture: Getty Images

CORONATION INVITATIONS UNVEILED

It comes as two thousand guests including dozens of heads of states and dignitaries from around the world will this week be sent royal invitations to attend the coronation of King Charles.

With the sovereign’s crowning four weeks away, Buckingham Palace has unveiled the hand painted invites – which have been reprinted on recycled paper and are considerably more colourful than those of the late Queen’s royal blue card of 70 years ago – to be posted this week.

Notably, Camilla’s “Consort” title has been dropped from the invitations – and she will now be known as the Queen.

The Palace also announced eight Pages of Honour have been chosen to attend their majesties and form a procession during the Coronation Service along the nave of Westminster Abbey on May 6.

The official coronation portrait of Their Majesties. Picture: Handout/Hugo Burnand/Buckingham Palace via Getty Images

The King’s Pages of Honour will include grandson and second-in-line to the throne Prince George, Lord Oliver Cholmondeley who is the son of Prince William’s friend and neighbour Marquess of Cholmondeley also known as David Rocksavage, as well as Nicholas Barclay and Ralph Tollemache – the sons of close family friends.

The Queen Consort’s Pages of Honour will be her grandsons twins Gus and Louis Lopes, 13,

and Freddy Parker Bowles, 13, as well as her great-nephew Arthur Elliot.

George will be tasked with carrying the King’s robes alongside three other Pages of Honour – schoolboys Lord Oliver Cholmondeley, 13, Nicholas Barclay, 13, and Ralph Tollemache, 12. All three are the sons of His Majesty’s friends.

The handpainted invitation was designed by artist and illustrator Andrew Jamieson and features a motif of the “Green Man” – “an ancient figure from British folklore, symbolic of spring and rebirth, to celebrate the new reign”.

The Palace revealed the shape of the Green Man, “crowned in natural foliage, is formed of leaves of oak, ivy and hawthorn, and the emblematic flowers of the United Kingdom”.

The official invitation to King Charles’ Coronation.

The British wildflower meadow fringing the invitation features lily of the valley, cornflowers, wild strawberries, dog roses, bluebells, and a sprig of rosemary for remembrance, and with wildlife including a bee, a butterfly, a ladybird, a wren and a robin.

The Flowers appear in groupings of three, symbolising The King becoming the third monarch of his name.

A lion, a unicorn and a boar are taken from the coats of arms of Their Majesties. Her Majesty’s arms are now enclosed by the Garter, following her installation as a Royal Lady of the Order of the Garter last summer.

The intricate design is far more grand than the simple invitation sent out for the 1953 Coronation of her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth which featured blue ink against a white background.

But King Charles’ Coronation itself will be a scaled-back affair compared to that of his mother’s which was attended by 8251 guests from 129 nations.

As well as the Coronation invitation, the Palace released a new photograph of Their Majesties which was taken last month in the Blue Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace by photographer Hugo Burnand.