Biden unlikely to attend coronation of King Charles III, White House sources say

President Biden will likely not attend the coronation of King Charles III this coming May, a pair of White House officials told TIME Magazine on Friday.

The officials, who spoke to TIME under the condition of anonymity, told the outlet that Charles' May 6 crowning "does not feel like an event Joe Biden will attend." However, they added that Biden's plans for the coming spring have not yet been finalized, potentially leaving the door open for a presidential trip to the U.K.

A Buckingham Palace official told TIME that they would be releasing an official guest list for the coronation "in due course."

Charles became king last September upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. Both the president and first lady Dr. Jill Biden joined hundreds of other leaders at the queen's funeral in London. The couple met the queen at Windsor Castle just over a year before her death. When Biden spoke to Charles upon his mother's passing, the White House said in a press release that he "conveyed his wish to continue a close relationship with the king."

However, TIME noted that Biden himself has "long held a personal discomfort with the British monarchy." This is in part due to his strong Irish heritage, and the Biden family has reportedly held anger about the historic colonization of Ireland by the British monarchy, a sentiment shared by many native Irish people.

The revelation of Biden's possible absence comes at a time when the British monarchy has come under fire even for its continued existence due to the cost of living crisis in the U.K. Charles has pledged to have a more scaled-back coronation than his mother, but controversy over the Royal Family has continued to build.

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