Britain's Queen Elizabeth II delivers the Queen's Speech during the State Opening of Parliament in the Houses of Parliament in London on June 21, 2017. (AFP/Carl Court)
LONDON — US President Donald Trump’s planned state visit to Britain later this year got no mention in Queen Elizabeth II’s speech to parliament on Wednesday, raising doubts about whether it will go ahead.
The omission follows media reports that Trump no longer wants to come because of British public opposition to the visit, after a petition to cancel it received more than 1.8 million signatures.
It is customary for the monarch to list state visits in the annual speech, and Elizabeth did mention one such visit coming up next month by Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia.
But the speech glided over the invitation to Trump, which was widely criticized in Britain as an attempt by Prime Minister Theresa May to curry favor with the president during his first year in office.
US President Donald Trump walks from Marine One upon arrival on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, June 16, 2017, following a trip to Miami, Florida, where he announced his policy toward Cuba. (AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEB)
British press reports after the speech said the visit was clearly now in jeopardy, but a spokesman for May insisted the invitation had not been revoked.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
“The visit wasn’t mentioned in the Queen’s Speech because a date hasn’t been fixed yet,” the spokesman said.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
