# Biden Not Attending King Charles III's Coronation **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 15, 2023, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713 "2023-04-15T15:20:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/1 "2023-04-15T15:20:09Z")
Joe Biden is not attending King Charles III’s coronation, instead sending First Lady Jill Biden on his behalf. I’m not clear on the reasons – perhaps his schedule is already full, perhaps he considers it beneath him, perhaps the optics are bad, perhaps he dislikes Charles because reasons. He did, however, attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, so there’s that. CNN noted that the U.S. POTUS (would have been Eisenhower at the time) did not attend QEII’s coronation, and indeed, no POTUS has ever attended one. I can see why: the [Special Relationship](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Relationship_(United_Kingdom%E2%80%93United_States)) didn’t really come into vogue until after WWII, and by that time George VI was already on the throne. I don’t have any specific questions related to this matter. I’m just kind of baffled at the whole thing. It seems like it’s kind of a snub, but perhaps I’m misinterpreting things. Especially in light of the fact that Biden attended the Queen’s funeral. So I guess my questions are, a) why is Biden skipping and b) do you consider this a bad thing? Discuss. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/2 "2023-04-15T15:24:20Z")
How many world leader outside of the commonwealth are attending? Who does the Royal Family send to inaugurations? * * * My guess is this is a nothing. But I might be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/3 "2023-04-15T15:24:34Z")
Joe has been invited for a state visit to the UK as part of a recent phone call with Chuck. I don’t think is considered insulting, but more a matter of tradition. > **[King Charles offers Joe Biden special invitation after coronation rejection](https://www.newsweek.com/king-charles-joe-biden-special-invitation-coronation-rejection-1792855?amp=1)** > > In a White House press briefing on Wednesday, Karine Jean-Pierre revealed that the king had extended a special invite to Joe Biden, which has been accepted. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/4 "2023-04-15T15:35:52Z")
Considering Charles’ history, I consider it a good thing that Joe isn’t making a long trip for the occasion. Hope Jill gets in on some good food and drink while she’s there. I hear those coronation buffets are a blast. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/5 "2023-04-15T15:38:45Z")
Does the president routinely attend inaugural festivities of foreign heads of state? I’m not saying it never happens, but I can’t think of any examples. > [@HeyHomie](#): > > CNN noted that the U.S. POTUS (would have been Eisenhower at the time) did not attend QEII’s coronation, and indeed, no POTUS has ever attended one. I can see why: the [Special Relationship](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Relationship_(United_Kingdom%E2%80%93United_States)) didn’t really come into vogue until after WWII, and by that time George VI was already on the throne. Heads of state rarely traveled that far back then. There was no presidential travel abroad from 1947-1953 at all. And in any case, heads of state weren’t invited to previous coronations. The idea that the US president would be invited, let alone that it would be a ginned-up controversy that he isn’t going, is new to 2023. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/6 "2023-04-15T15:38:47Z")
Coronation chicken was invented as a snack for Queen Liz and her ladies-in-waiting to have during the long day of the coronation: > **[Coronation chicken](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_chicken)** > > Coronation chicken or Poulet Reine Elizabeth is a chicken meat dish made from an Indian inspired creamy curry sauce. It can be eaten as a salad or used to fill sandwiches. > Normally bright yellow, coronation chicken is usually flavoured with curry powder or paste, although more sophisticated versions of the recipe are made using fresh herbs and spices and additional ingredients such as flaked almonds, raisins, and crème fraîche. The original dish calls for dried apricot and not raisins, and use... ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/7 "2023-04-15T15:44:07Z")
I don’t think Biden deciding not to attend is a snub. All of the heads of non-Commonwealth states would be very much sat near the back and would be very much in the background. The only reason he might have to attend is to perhaps meet other leaders for a sort of unofficial summit (which is unlikely to happen) and for a photo op for maybe the US papers. The UK will not be too bothered by this so it’s no insult. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/8 "2023-04-15T16:26:10Z")
Yeah, I kind of like the optics of Biden’s non-attendance at the coronation, actually. Go to the funeral of the former monarch to pay your respects to the beloved long-reigning head of state of a valued ally, sure. Skip the formal installation ceremony of the new monarch, because that’s basically a dog-and-pony show for the subjects of the monarchy. From the US’s point of view as a separate sovereign nation, Charles III has been the UK’s head of state since the death of Elizabeth II, as specified in the British constitution. That’s the only personnel update we need to officially take note of. The US President doesn’t need to schlep over to London just to watch an archbishop plop a crown on some royal offspring’s head. We fought a war to get shut of this notion that headship of state should automatically be determined by whose offspring you are.\* People who still like to run their countries that way are perfectly free to do so, of course, but we shouldn’t encourage them by sending our own head of state to swell the audience for their hereditary-privilege spectacle. (Paradoxically, I think it’s perfectly fine and a graceful gesture to send our unelected First Lady to the event, as a testament to friendly relations and goodwill. Diplomacy is a complicated and frequently contradictory thing.) \* Obligatory acknowledgement of the many and various political issues underlying the American Revolution; of course, in reality it was nowhere near as simple as colonists declaring that they refused to be ruled by a hereditary monarch purely as a matter of republican principle. ---
**Author:** ![Beesnest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@Beesnest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beesnest)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/9 "2023-04-15T16:35:47Z")
Well I wish he had sent Kamala Harris instead of his wife. Or if not that, send Hunter. They are big on familial hierarchy there and the Brits have a wicked sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/10 "2023-04-15T16:39:36Z")
> [@Beesnest](#): > > Or if not that, send Hunter. They are big on familial hierarchy there Yeah, that’s exactly the aspect I don’t think Americans should be encouraging. “Hey bro, congratulations to your reigning dynasty from our reigning dynasty” is not an appropriate message to send on behalf of the USA. (Though I readily admit that our own power structures have a strong tendency to be more hereditary than is consistent with our official principles.) ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/11 "2023-04-15T17:01:34Z")
The surprise is not that Biden is not attending. No one expected that he would. No, the surprise is that a few foreign heads of state have said that they will attend, including the Kings of Sweden and Spain. That’s a break with tradition. But so far the only Presidents who have said they’ll be there are very minor ones (Poland, the Philippines etc.). The expectation was always that most countries would send lesser representatives. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/12 "2023-04-15T17:07:14Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > The US President doesn’t need to schlep over to London just to watch an archbishop plop a crown on some royal offspring’s head. We fought a war to get shut of this notion that headship of state should automatically be determined by whose offspring you are.\* This is my thinking: It’s symbolically appropriate for the US President to not attend coronations, especially coronations of the British monarchs. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/13 "2023-04-15T17:09:58Z")
> [@APB](#): > > No, the surprise is that a few foreign heads of state have said that they will attend, including the Kings of Sweden and Spain. That’s a break with tradition. Huh, I’m a bit surprised to hear that that’s surprising. I kind of assumed that all these guys are cousins anyway so naturally they all go to one another’s weddings and funerals and commencements, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/14 "2023-04-15T17:17:13Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Joe Biden is not attending King Charles III’s coronation… When was the last time an English King or Queen attended a US Presidential inauguration? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/15 "2023-04-15T17:21:04Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Huh, I’m a bit surprised to hear that that’s surprising. I kind of assumed that all these guys are cousins anyway so naturally they all go to one another’s weddings and funerals and commencements, so to speak. In 1937, it was a deviation from past norms when Queen Mary attended the coronation of her _own son_. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/16 "2023-04-15T17:29:24Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > When was the last time an English King or Queen attended a US Presidential inauguration? To be fair, AFAICT, we never invite them. You need an invitation to be one of the 3000 or so people who fit on the Inaugural Platform and West Terrace bleachers, and I think it would not be considered a good look to include a UK king or queen as a symbolic mommy or daddy figure endorsing the event. Besides, there are always at least 3000 more US-Presidency-relevant people to issue invitations to. Natch, an English king or queen is perfectly welcome to squash in with the rest of the public on the National Mall, but of course they never would. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/17 "2023-04-15T17:31:33Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > In 1937, it was a deviation from past norms when Queen Mary attended the coronation of her _own son_. Huh again. Is the idea to basically keep the potential targets separated, so that some anarchist greedy and lank can’t take out most of the crowned heads of Europe with one of Sister Jenny’s bombs? ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/18 "2023-04-15T17:41:27Z")
Yeah, considering they’re all benefiting from the same scam, you’d think they would support each other more in making it look like the right thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/19 "2023-04-15T19:38:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > This is my thinking: It’s symbolically appropriate for the US President to not attend coronations, especially coronations of the British monarchs. My first thought was if it had anything to do with the conflict between Britain and the USA over re-establishing the British Empire. Churchill wanted to regain control of these ares, and FDR wanted the people to vote in their own government. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713/20 "2023-04-15T19:54:25Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > > [@bobot](#): > > > > When was the last time an English King or Queen attended a US Presidential inauguration? > > To be fair, AFAICT, we never invite them. In America’s defense, it would have been extremely awkward the first few times we did an inauguration. I mean, we weren’t exactly on good terms clear through 1812. And then their textile industry took such a liking to secessionist cotton… I’m just saying that by the time it got to a point where this might have even been a consideration, a precedent had long been set. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-not-attending-king-charles-iiis-coronation/982713.md?page=2)