Joe Biden ‘too old’ to travel for King Charles' coronation: Report
US President Joe Biden has a number of travels scheduled across the Atlantic in the coming months, which his close aides are keen to restrict him from making.
United States President Joe Biden is likely to turn down the Buckingham Palace's invitation to attend the coronation ceremony of Britain's King Charles III as he is ‘too old’ to travel across the Atlantic twice in a month, the UK-based daily The Telegraph reported quoting sources.
The coronation event is scheduled on May 6, and Biden's close aides are keen to restrict him from his international movements as a measure for him to avoid being ‘too tired to perform his domestic duties’, the report said. However, his wife and First Lady Jill Biden may attend the ceremony in his place.
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Among his upcoming travels, Biden is scheduled to visit Northern Ireland later this month and Japan for the G7 summit next month. He is also expected to meet UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on at least three ocassions in the next three months. According to the report, both Washington and London have indicated that the President has not formally decided on attending the coronation event.
British ambassador to the US Karen Pierce earlier had ‘cordial and diplomatic’ talks with the White House about the event, however, Biden's aides said he had prior commitments.
Biden, who is 80 now, is the oldest to hold the top office in the US at the time he sworn in, followed by Donald Trump.
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Both Biden and his wife in September attended Queen Elizabeth II's funeral at the Westminster Abbey. However, the seating arrangement for the President in the royal church led to some controversy as he was seated behind European heads of state.
This would not be the first time a US President would possibly skip the coronation event. President Dwight Eisenhower had skipped the coronation of the late Queen in 1953 and sent a delegation of government instead.