By Jonathan Allen
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, April 29 (Reuters) – Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla commemorated victims of the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda attack on New York City on Wednesday, laying a floral bouquet at the memorial where the World Trade Center’s twin towers once stood.
The royal visit to lower Manhattan came at a time of tensions between Britain and the U.S., with President Donald Trump having criticized Prime Minister Keir Starmer for what he says is his lack of help in the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran.
Michael Bloomberg, a former New York City mayor, walked the king and queen to one of the reflecting pools that outline the footprints of the 110-story towers destroyed when al Qaeda militants flew two planes into the skyscrapers.
Charles laid a bouquet of white lilacs, daffodils and peonies on the bronze parapet surrounding the pool, engraved with the names of all the fatal victims of the attack.
‘SOLIDARITY’
A note accompanying the flowers, in the king’s handwriting, read: “We honour the memory of all those who so tragically lost their lives on 11th September 2001, and stand in enduring solidarity with the American people in the face of such profound loss. Charles R Camilla R.”
The three stood silently before heading into a canopy to meet with guests including relatives of some of the nearly 2,800 people killed in New York that day.
The king also spoke with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at the ceremony and met the governors of New York and New Jersey.
Britain was an immediate and staunch supporter of the U.S. response to the 9/11 attacks, which also included a plane crashed into the Pentagon and another downed in a Pennsylvania field by passengers who battled hijackers, launching a years-long “war on terror.” King Charles referred to September 11 during his speech to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, saying “we answered the call together.”
Charles stressed the historical military and cultural ties between Britain and the U.S., as well as the importance of NATO at a time when Trump has been critical of the Western military alliance’s reluctance to provide military assistance in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
IRAN TENSIONS
At a White House state dinner on Tuesday night, Trump said Charles agreed with him that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. The king is not a spokesman for the UK government and it could not be confirmed that Charles made the statement to Trump.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement on Wednesday that “The King is naturally mindful of his government’s long-standing and well-known position on the prevention of nuclear proliferation.”
Britain was one of the countries alongside the U.S. that negotiated the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, which sharply limited Tehran’s nuclear programs and opened them to inspectors, until Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the agreement during his first White House term.
Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful civilian purposes.
The royal couple’s four-day state visit to the U.S. celebrates the 250th anniversary of America’s declaration of independence from British rule.
After the 9/11 memorial, King Charles will head to Harlem to visit a grassroots community organization that created a sustainable after-school urban farming initiative in an effort to combat food insecurity. Such projects have been a passion of the king for decades.
Meanwhile, Camilla was due to celebrate the 100th birthday of A.A. Milne’s fictional character Winnie-the-Pooh on behalf of her charity, The Queen’s Reading Room, which Buckingham Palace is calling a “literary engagement” event.
The queen’s New York Public Library visit will include 100 guests from the British and U.S. literary, cultural and publishing worlds, the palace said. Camilla will then meet with representatives of domestic violence charities in the area.
(Reporting by Tim Reid, Jonathan Allen and Maria Tsvetkova; Writing by Tim Reid; Additonal reporting by Michael Holden and William James in London; Editing by Scott Malone, Lincoln Feast, Keith Weir, Chris Reese and Alistair Bell)
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