The King and Queen have been officially welcomed to the US by Donald Trump with an unprecedented military ceremony on the lawn of the White House.
Charles and Camilla watched the display with President Trump and first lady Melania alongside a group of dignitaries and hundreds of spectators.
The royal couple arrived in Washington on Monday for the start of a four-day state visit to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The King and US president had tea with their wives at the White House soon after the royals arrived and an image from the meeting showed the two men engrossed in conversation.
In a speech on the White House lawn, President Trump paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth, calling her a “very special woman”.
Of the relationship between the UK and the US, the president said: “We see today a living symbol of this centuries’ old bond.
“Just a few dozen feet to the left where I stand – there her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth, an incredible woman who I had the privilege of getting to know.
“Queen Elizabeth, the second, very, very special woman, who is very greatly missed on both sides of that mighty Atlantic, long ago planted a young tree.
“It was a very young and beautiful tree and look at it now.”
He added: “His Majesty’s intellect, passion and devotion have been long, really a long blessing, blessing to the British people, but not only to his own country, but to the cherished bond between the United States and the United Kingdom, and I am very certain that it will continue that way long into the future.”
With the so-called special relationship between the UK and US tested in recent months, following a war of words between Mr Trump and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over the conflict in Iran, officials in Downing Street will be hoping the royal family’s soft power diplomacy can help heal the rift.
There seemed some indication of this when the president said: “In the centuries since we won our independence, Americans have had no closer friends than the British.
“We share that same root. We speak the same language. We hold the same values, and together, our warriors have defended the same extraordinary civilisation under twin banners of red, white and blue.”
Later the King will tell Congress the story of the UK and US since America’s independence is “one of the greatest alliances in human history” where the two nations find ways to “come together”.
During the welcome ceremony, the King and Queen stood on a dais with the president and first lady as the UK and US national anthems were played by “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band.
Nearby, a 21-gun salute was fired in tribute to the royal guests by the Presidential Salute Battery.
