--- description: Donald Trump called it 'disrespectful' for President Biden to skip it. No US President has ever attended a coronation of a British Monarch. title: Why Jill Biden, But Not Joe, Is Attending the Coronation image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7246ded4294e920/698a3ca0cabb1d0397e51601/jill-biden-attends-coronatoin.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [royals](/tag/royals/) ## royals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why Jill Biden Is Attending the Coronation Instead of the President  by [Brian Bennett](/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Bennett is the senior White House correspondent at TIME. May 4, 2023 6:44 PM CUT  First Lady of the United States, Dr Jill Biden, and her granddaughter Finnegan Biden ahead of the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 6, 2023 in London, England. First Lady of the United States, Dr Jill Biden, and her granddaughter Finnegan Biden ahead of the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 6, 2023 in London, England.Andrew Matthews—WPA Pool/Getty Images  by [Brian Bennett](/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Bennett is the senior White House correspondent at TIME. May 4, 2023 6:44 PM CUT No American President has attended a coronation of a British Monarch. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was invited to the last crowning of a British sovereign—in 1953 when [Queen Elizabeth](https://time.com/6273771/king-charles-iii-coronation-queen-elizabeth-ii/ "undefined") formally took the throne—but decided to skip it and send a [delegation](https://time.com/6260313/biden-king-charles-coronation/ "undefined") of American luminaries instead. In keeping with that precedent, Joe Biden won’t be at the crowning of King Charles III on Saturday, part of a [three-day ](https://time.com/6274001/king-charles-iii-coronation-schedule/ "undefined")national celebration estimated to cost British taxpayers [$125 million.](https://time.com/6275383/king-charles-iii-coronation-cost-taxpayers/ "undefined") He tapped First Lady Jill Biden to attend in his place, along with his granddaughter Finnegan Biden. Biden’s absence is not intended to insult Charles, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said last month “It is not a snub,” Jean-Pierre said. **Read more**: [_Here’s What We Know About the Vast Cost of King Charles III’s Coronation_](https://time.com/6275383/king-charles-iii-coronation-cost-taxpayers/ "undefined") But that didn’t stop Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, from blasting him for not making the return trip to England for the coronation, after Biden had recently swung through Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. “I think it’s very disrespectful for him not to be here,” Trump said on Wednesday in an interview with Nigel Farage, a former British politician who was a prominent supporter of Brexit, on GB News. He added, “And when you have somebody who’s going to be sleeping instead of coming to the coronation as President of the United States, I think that, I think that’s a bad thing.” While she is in the United Kingdom, Jill Biden will meet with Akshata Murty, the wife of Rishi Sunak, the British Prime Minister, at 10 Downing Street. The two will meet with veterans and visit a local elementary school on Friday. On Friday evening, Jill Biden will attend a reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by Charles the night before the crowning ceremony on Saturday.  First Lady Jill Biden arrives at number 10 Downing Street on May 5, 2023 in London. Hollie Adams—Getty Images **Read more**: [_Is the British Monarchy Still Popular?_](https://time.com/6276478/british-monarchy-popularity-explained/ "undefined") In a 25-minute phone call in early April, Biden told Charles that First Lady Jill Biden would attend the coronation in his place. Charles invited Biden to come to the U.K. at a later date during his presidency for a formal state visit, and Biden accepted, according to a description of the phone call from the White House. Much of Biden’s father’s family is English, but he’s long favored his mother’s Irish ancestry in his speeches and the anecdotes he tells. In 1982, when he was traveling to meet Queen Elizabeth for the first time, his mother [called](https://time.com/6260313/biden-king-charles-coronation/ "undefined") him to tell him not to bow to her. Biden has occasionally made [reference](https://time.com/6260313/biden-king-charles-coronation/ "undefined") to Britain’s violent colonization of Ireland and the centuries of animosity that followed. During his Ireland trip last night, while visiting the Windsor Bar and Restaurant in Dundalk, Biden described his grandfather, Ambrose Finnegan, telling him, “‘Remember, Joey, the best drop of blood in you is Irish.’” A few minutes later, he acknowledged his English ancestry as well. “You know, Biden is English. I hate to tell you that. I don’t hate to — I’m joking, but it’s true,” Biden said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6277054/jill-biden-king-charles-coronation-iii/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6277054/jill-biden-king-charles-coronation-iii/"},"headline":"Why Jill Biden Is Attending the Coronation Instead of the President","datePublished":"2023-05-04T18:44:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:48:56.201Z","description":"Donald Trump called it \"very disrespectful\" for President Joe Biden to skip the coronation.","url":"https://time.com/6277054/jill-biden-king-charles-coronation-iii/","keywords":["royals","Joe Biden","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7246ded4294e920/698a3ca0cabb1d0397e51601/jill-biden-attends-coronatoin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Brian Bennett","jobTitle":"Bennett is the senior White House correspondent at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7246ded4294e920/698a3ca0cabb1d0397e51601/jill-biden-attends-coronatoin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"jill-biden-attends-coronatoin","caption":"First Lady of the United States, Dr Jill Biden, and her granddaughter Finnegan Biden ahead of the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 6, 2023 in London, England.","creditText":"Andrew Matthews—WPA Pool/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/royals/","name":"royals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6277054/jill-biden-king-charles-coronation-iii/","name":"Why Jill Biden Is Attending the Coronation Instead of the President"}}]}] ```