Japanese state visit – organized by the King – will continue despite elections | UK News

It has been confirmed that the Japanese state visit to the UK, organized by the king, will go ahead despite the general election.

The important diplomatic invitation to Emperor Naruhito and his wife, Empress Masako, received the green light in an “adapted” way, although it took place just a few days earlier. the country goes to the polls.

They will be invited from King It is Queen from the 25th to the 27th of June, just one week before the vote on the 4th of July.

There were doubts that this would happen after Buckingham Palace announced that some royal engagements would be postponed in this “period of pre-election sensitivity”.

But the formal state occasion will include the traditional pomp and pageantry of a ceremonial reception at Horse Guards Parade, a carriage procession and a grand banquet at Buckingham Palace.

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It is not yet clear what exactly has been changed, but a Palace spokesperson said the program had been “slightly adapted”, adding: “As a general principle it has obviously been adapted as a result of the current pre-election period of sensitivity. .”

The missing elements appear to be the usual Downing Street talks with the prime minister, a speech at the Palace of Westminster by the visiting head of state and meetings with opposition leaders.

So far, it is also unclear whether the Prime Minister Rishi SunakForeign Secretary Lord Cameronlabor leader Sir Keir Starmer and others would be invited to the official gala banquet or participate in other elements of the visit.

State visits are planned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in consultation with the Palace, and the main event on the royal calendar is King Charles’s first state visit since his cancer diagnosis.

O Prince of Wales He will also participate in the visit, greeting the Emperor and Empress at their hotel in the name of the King on June 25th and accompanying them to the Mounted Guard Parade.

But there was no mention of Princess of Wales in the Palace announcement.

Kate is absent from public functions while she undergoes chemotherapy for cancer.

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The Japanese state visit previously had to be postponed due to COVID pandemic.

There was no occasion during of Isabel II 70-year reign of a state visit carried out in the period between the calling of the general elections and voting day.

In 2017, a Spanish state visit by King Felipe VI was quickly rescheduled – following an agreement between the late Queen and King Felipe – because the date clashed with a snap election in the United Kingdom.