Trump shares carriage procession with King Charles
Here are some pictures from the carriage procession.
Key events
Back to Trump, and here is the latest dispatch from the White House pool.
Soldiers on horseback in ceremonial uniforms filed out and then the different detachments marched off in order, playing music. The Scots Guards, playing bagpipes were last to leave, perhaps in a nod to Trump, whose mother was Scottish and who has two golf courses in Scotland.
The Trumps and the royals then left the stage towards the Sovereign’s Entrance and went for lunch. Pool is now being taken to hold in a rather stunning arched room inside the castle.
Stephen Miller [Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy – and the figure in charge in particular of Trump’s anti-immigration onslaught], Steven Cheung [Trump’s communications director], Karoline Leavitt [Trump’s press secretary], Margo Martin [a press adviser] and Will Scharf [another adviser] were also among those in attendance at the ceremony, by the way.
Donald Trump has not met Keir Starmer yet since his arrival in the UK last night, but they will see each other at the state banquet tonight. Their main talks will take place at Chequers tomorrow.
Starmer has invested a lot of effort into cultivating a good relationship with the president, and Trump seems to have a genuine liking for him. Starmer has argued that they both won elections last year for the same reason – because they were promising change to voters fed up with the status quo.
But Trump was also reportedly impressed by the scale of Labour’s victory. He admires winners.
Which is just one reason why the latest polling from YouGov is bad news for Starmer. YouGov says his favourability ratings have hit a record low. YouGov explains:
New YouGov polling finds that just 21% of Britons say they have a favourable opinion of the prime minister, down three points on last month and the lowest such figure recorded by YouGov since he became Labour leader.
Seven in ten Britons (71%) now hold an unfavourable opinion of Starmer, up three points from August and the highest to date. This leaves the prime minister with a net favourability rating of -50, Starmer’s lowest score so far.
The president and his wife are now having lunch with the king and the queen.
Here are some more pictures of Donald Trump inspecting the guard of honour.
Danny Kemp from AFP has posted video footage on social media of Donald Trump and King Charles inspecting the guard of honour.
Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, and Steve Witkoff, the real estate lawyer and Trump golfing partner who was appointed by the president as his special envoy to the US, also got a seat in the carriage procession.
Just in case bearskin helmets and marching music are not your thing, there is politics news happening today. Mason Humberstone, a councillor on Stevenage council, has defected from Labour to Reform UK. He has explained why here.
I have just joined @reformparty_uk – here’s why
I’ve battled with this decision for some time. But deep down, I know it’s the right call. It isn’t ordinary, hardworking people in Stevenage and across our country who’ve left Labour – Labour has left us.
The party I joined is lost, without vision, mired in scandal, and too often speaking for a metropolitan elite rather than the people they’re meant to serve. When policies harm the British people and weaken our democracy, I cannot in good conscience support them.
As Stevenage’s youngest councillor, I entered politics to serve with integrity and respect. Today, I know I join a party that will put the British people and our great nation first. I feel proud to be part of this team and ready to get to work
Christopher Hope from GB News says this is the first direct defection from Labour to Reform UK by an elected politician in England.
This will cheer Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, who has been moaning that, despite being a friend and ally of Trump’s, he has not been invited to the state banquet tonight.
Donald Trump is watching the march past.
Famously, he loves all this military exhibitionism so much that he staged his own paradde in Washington. But the marching on that occasion was a bit rubbish. Doubtless, the king will take some pride in the fact that at least this is one thing we do better.
There is live footage of the events at Windsor Castle at the top of the blog.
Donald Trump and King Charles have arrived to inspect the guard of honour at Windsor Castle. Here are the soldiers lined up awaiting his arrival.
Trump shares carriage procession with King Charles
Here are some pictures from the carriage procession.
Rachel Hall
Rachel Hall is a Guardian reporter.
Shaista Aziz, one of the Stop Trump Coalition’s organisers, said today’s protests would involve people coming together to share their “anger and rage at a failed political system not only here in Britain but also in the US”. She also said many wanted to show their fury that Donald Trump was being invited for an unprecedented second state visit while Palestinians are facing starvation.
Previous Stop Trump Coalition protests saw 250,000 people gather on the streets. But Aziz noted that was a “very different time”, during Trump’s first presidency. The Stop Trump Coalition considers it a victory that Trump will not be visiting London this time around.
There is no planned to repeat the blimp balloon of Trump dressed as a baby, which was floated over Parliament Square during the previous protest in 2018. Aziz said this is because “the tone of the protest is different”.
Whereas in 2018 it was framed as a “carnival of resistance”, the group no longer feel that a facetious tone is appropriate amid the rise of the far right, economic crisis, and starvation in Gaza. “Things have become very serious and far more catastrophic,” she said.
There has also been “much more fear and anxiety” in the run-up to the protest, and a sense that the risk level has become “far more elevated”, with some prospective attendees – in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds – deciding not to come following the large far-right protest in central London last week.
Members of the coalition have received death threats and the group has been monitoring toxic online rhetoric, including drawing on advice from experts which monitor extremist activity online in order to establish whether a counter-protest was likely to be held.
Donald Trump has landed at Windsor, and is being greeted by William and Kate.
Daniel Boffey
Daniel Boffey is the Guardian’s chief reporter.
The queen has sufficiently recovered from a bout of “acute sinusitis” to attend Donald Trump’s visit to Windsor, Buckingham Palace has confirmed. Camilla, 78, was unable to join the rest of the royal family at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral on Tuesday,
Chris Ship from ITV News has footage of King Charles and the queen arriving at Victoria House in the grounds of Windsor Castle, near where President Trump will be landing.
King Charles and Queen Camilla have arrived at Victoria House next to the helicopter landing spot in the castle grounds. Ready to meet Mr Trump. pic.twitter.com/QGOT7wTBya
— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) September 17, 2025
Trump will be met by the Prince and Princess of Wales (William and Kate), who will escort him to meet the king and queen.
Liz Kendall says concessions to US on digital services tax were not part of ‘tech prosperity deal’
Liz Kendall, the science secretary, was on the Today programme this morning talking about the “tech prosperity deal” agreed with the US. (See 9.43am.)
American tech companies were reportedly pushing for exemptions from the digital services tax (DST) as part of a deal. But asked if that would happen, Kendall said that was not part of the deal.
Asked if the DST would stay, she said:
Rachel Reeves [the chancellor] has been very strong about saying people need to pay their fair share of taxes. It wasn’t included in this partnership at all.
Here is video footage of the Jeffery Epstein pictures that were projected on to Windsor Castle last night.
