Australian Flag Mistake Near White House Before Union Jack Visit
Maintenance crews near the White House hung the Australian flag instead of the union jack last week, a mistake that appeared days before King Charles and Queen Camilla landed in Washington on Monday. The error was soon rectified.
Washington Visit
King Charles and Queen Camilla were received by President Donald Trump and the First Lady in the West Wing for tea and a tour of the White House's new beehives. A bee landed on Trump's outstretched palm during the visit.
The visit was planned in celebration of America’s semiquincentennial, and the planning was under way before the British Embassy knew who would win the 2024 Presidential election. That timeline left little room for last-minute adjustments around the royal arrival, even as the flag error was corrected quickly.
South Lawn Ceremony
The next morning, American military units and bands marched through rain on the South Lawn for Charles's welcome ceremony. Standing at a podium, Trump said, "What a beautiful, British day this is," and later referred to the gaping hole where the East Wing once stood as his "readjustment."
Trump also gestured to a tree given to the United States by Queen Elizabeth II and said, "It was a young and beautiful tree, and look at it now" and "It’s tripled in size and tripled in strength, very much as our nations have." The royal visit moved from a flag mix-up near the White House to a carefully staged ceremony on the South Lawn, with the mistaken display already corrected before the formal program began.
