LONDON — King Charles III is embarking on a four-day state visit to the United States with stops in Washington, New York, and Virginia. The trip, requested by the British government, will include a celebration of America's 250th birthday.

The itinerary features a commemoration of the September 11, 2001, attacks, a ceremony honoring fallen service members, and an event attended by Queen Camilla to mark the 100th anniversary of A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh stories. The royals will not meet with victims of Jeffrey Epstein during the visit, and there are no plans for Charles to meet with his son Prince Harry.

Charles intends to calm tensions related to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's refusal to support President Donald Trump's war against Iran. Starmer resisted pressure to cancel the visit after Trump criticized British military sacrifices in Afghanistan and the U.K. for failing to back the U.S. on Iran. Trump has continued to speak warmly about the king despite tensions between the two governments.

Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said the relationship between the two countries transcends politics. "We've got to always make the distinction that there's a difference between the government of the U.K. and the kings and queens of Great Britain, who are really always coming to try to put (on) a good face. Politics come and go, prime ministers, presidents, come and go, but there's something deeper about the special relationship between the United States and the U.K." Brinkley also said: "History has shown that President Trump really tries to be impressive whenever he's dealing with British royalty. And I'm sure it'll be the same this time around."

Robert Hardman framed the symbolism of the trip in similar terms. "He's going because 250 years ago the Founding Fathers of the USA kicked out his great-times-five grandfather, and he's going to say, 'No hard feelings, it's been a great divorce, we've had a lovely 250 years and let's reflect on the high points,'" Hardman said.

The visit follows a long history of royal trips to the U.S. In 1939, King George VI became the first British monarch to set foot in the country, touring the East Coast, attending a picnic at President Franklin D. Roosevelt's private home in Hyde Park, New York, and laying a wreath at the tomb of George Washington at Mount Vernon. Presidential scholar Barbara Perry said of the 1939 visit: "People could see the handwriting on the wall and know that it was going to be important for the United States and Britain to stay strong for fighting against Hitler." Queen Elizabeth II made four state visits during her 70-year reign, helping President Gerald R. Ford celebrate America's bicentennial in 1976 and meeting with President George W. Bush in 2007 while British and American forces were engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 1991, she delivered a speech to Congress celebrating shared democratic traditions, quoting Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.