King Charles to visit Canada for throne speech amid US tensions
Britain's King Charles III will travel to Canada in the coming days for a brief but 'impactful' visit, at a time when President Donald Trump is floating the idea of making his northern neighbour the 51st US state.
The 76-year-old monarch, who is also Canada's head of state as part of the Commonwealth, has never publicly commented on the ambitions of the US president, a noted admirer of the royal family.
Despite battling cancer for over a year, Charles accepted an invitation from Canada's newly appointed Prime Minister Mark Carney to deliver the 'speech from the throne' at the reopening of parliament on May 27, outlining the new government's priorities.
Queen Camilla will accompany him on the 24-hour visit to the capital Ottawa.
'The King and Queen are very much looking forward to the programme, mindful that it is a short visit but hopefully an impactful one,' a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said as the couple's May 26-27 itinerary was released this week.
The throne speech is expected to draw close scrutiny, especially on sovereignty and trade, amid Trump's renewed rhetoric about annexing the country of 41 million and his recent imposition of higher tariffs.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
As costs of Trump's chaos become clear, expect him to shift the blame
Perhaps this is a good moment for an audit of US President Donald Trump and his 'Make America Great Again' (Maga) acolytes' efforts to reshape the world as we have known it for over seven decades. That means reviewing the 130-or-so days since his inauguration, during which he has seeded the storm, and looking towards the 500-or-so days up to next year's US midterm elections, during which he is set to reap the whirlwind. Advertisement One clear certainty is that we face a period of unrelenting uncertainty, some deliberately provoked, but most of it the unintended product of mouth before brain. How much harm this will do, and whether Trump's team will succeed in 'blame-shifting' its way out of electoral responsibility, has yet to be revealed. But the auguries don't look good. Using more than 150 executive orders over the four months since his inauguration, Trump has successfully marginalised Congress, made 'ad hoc-ism' an art form and stirred a hornet's nest of conflicts with friends and foes alike. Trump's Maga loyalists remain convinced that the damage caused will be short-lived. The technocratic consensus does not share that conviction, but as Trump's procrastination, reversals and pauses generate considerable distance between cause and effect, he will no doubt try to shift the blame for inevitable harm elsewhere. 01:00 Trump justifies 'China tariffs' as US effort to curb 'greatest job theft in the world' Trump justifies 'China tariffs' as US effort to curb 'greatest job theft in the world'
South China Morning Post
6 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Musk escalates public spat with Trump by making Epstein files claim
With one tweet linking Donald Trump with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, Elon Musk reignites a long-running conspiracy theory beloved of the US president's far-right supporters. The tech billionaire – who exited his role as a top White House adviser just last week – alleged Thursday that the Republican leader was featured in secret government files on rich and powerful former Epstein associates. The Trump administration has acknowledged it was reviewing tens of thousands of documents, videos and investigative material that his Maga movement says will unmask public figures complicit in Epstein's crimes. 'Time to drop the really big bomb: (Trump) is in the Epstein files,' Musk posted on his social media platform, X, as a growing feud with the president boiled over into a vicious public spat. 'That is the real reason they have not been made public.'
South China Morning Post
16 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Trump ‘disappointed' in Musk, who hits back at US president's ‘ingratitude'
Tensions between Donald Trump and Elon Musk exploded into public view on Thursday, as the US president said he was 'very disappointed' by his billionaire former aide's criticisms and Musk hit back in real time on social media. Advertisement Trump then posted online that he had asked 'crazy' Musk to leave his administration and threatened to take away the tech tycoon's government contracts. 'Elon was 'wearing thin,' I asked him to leave,' Trump said on social media. 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.' Earlier on Thursday, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office: 'Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will any more.' The world's richest man responded by live-posting on social media as Trump spoke on television, saying that the Republican would not have won the 2024 election without him and slamming him for 'ingratitude'. Advertisement In an extraordinary rant as visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz sat mutely beside him, 78-year-old Trump unloaded on Musk in his first comments on the issue after the SpaceX and Tesla boss called his tax and spending bill an 'abomination'.
