Joe Biden announces First Lady Jill will represent US at King Charles III’s coronation (Local Tips & Reviews)

First Lady Jill Biden and US President Joe Biden.

• President Joe Biden on Tuesday congratulated Britain’s new King Charles III ahead of the monarch’s coronation on 6 May. 
• Biden further announced that First Lady Jill Biden would attend the upcoming event. 
• Biden also said he looked forward to meeting the king, but did not have a specific timeline for when the visit would take place, noting that it would be “in the near future”.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday congratulated Britain’s new King Charles III and said First Lady Jill Biden would attend the upcoming coronation, the White House said.

Biden spoke with the monarch “underscoring the strength of the relationship between our countries and the friendship between our peoples. The president congratulated the king on his upcoming coronation,” the White House said in a statement.

Biden also said he looked forward to meeting the king “at a future date.”

“The president was appreciative of the offer by the King and looks forward to that state visit,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

She said she did not have a specific timeline for when the visit would take place, but said it would be “in the near future.”

The king, who took over after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II, is due to be crowned on 6 May.

The Palace released a new official photograph of Charles and Camilla on Tuesday, and details of the coronation invitation that was sent out to the more than 2 000 guests.

The artwork for this, designed by heraldic artist Andrew Jamieson, was handpainted in watercolour and gouache, and features a motif of the Green Man – an ancient figure from British folklore.

Flowers on the invitation, which are made from recycled card, will appear in groupings of three – a nod to the king being the third monarch to be called Charles – and it will also feature a lion, a unicorn and a boar, taken from the royal couple’s coats of arms.

READ MORE | King Charles III’s coronation: What we know with one month to go

Biden is expected to visit the British province of Northern Ireland this month, as well as the Republic of Ireland. He met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in California in March and invited him to the White House this June.