King Charles and Queen Camilla welcomed some of the world’s most famous faces to a charity gala in New York City as their wildly successful royal tour of the US continues.

 

Anna Wintour, Katherine Jenkins, Karlie Kloss and Lionel Richie were among the celebrity supporters of the King’s Trust from both sides of the Atlantic who joined its founder and the Queen on Wednesday to celebrate the charity’s work and showcase the UK’s cultural impact on The Big Apple.

The gathering of stars, which also included Italian fashion designer Donatella Versace, British creative Stella McCartney, model Iman, Canadian actress Nina Dobrev and celebrity couple Meghann Fahy and Leo Woodall, came at the end of a whirlwind royal day in Manhattan.

The King and Queen, whose four-day tour of the US has been a huge success and already credited with repairing the UK’s rocky diplomatic relations with Donald Trump, began by declaring they stood ‘in enduring solidarity with the American people’ when they commemorated those killed during the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Charles and Camilla’s words of sympathy were written in a message left with a bouquet of flowers placed at the imposing memorial in New York, honouring the thousands of people who lost their lives almost 25 years ago.

At the same event, he met with New York’s controversial mayor Zohran Mamdani, who had suggested hours before meeting him that the the King should return the Koh-i-Noor diamond to India.

The Queen later met Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker at an event celebrating literature at the New York Public Library, with the actress saying Camilla’s visit was ‘great for all New Yorkers’.

Singer Lionel Richie, the first global ambassador and chairman of the Global Ambassador Group for the King’s Trust who enjoyed some fun on stage with the monarch, said of Charles’ extraordinary address on Tuesday on Capitol Hill: ‘I thought it was brilliant and how he threaded the needle – so brilliant, but brought us back into humanity as only he can do.’

He described the King as ‘a friend, giving advice as to what we should be doing – a wise friend’.

Charles has been praised for his speech which outlined the issues, values and priorities important to the UK and many of its allies, from support for Ukraine to the threat to the environment and the importance of the rule of law.

The New York Times said: ‘Beneath King Charles’s jokes and decorum, some subtle rebuttals to Trump, King Charles III gently pushed back against President Trump’s attacks on Britain and Nato, and he spoke of the importance of checks and balances.’

But during the reception at Christie’s auction house, Charles began by making the audience laugh when he told them: ‘I hesitate to make another speech because I may have had enough.’

The monarch joked ‘as we look to the future, I won’t see the long-distance future’ and he urged those in the room to ‘champion the next generation’.

Charles and Camilla will end their four-day state visit, the King’s first trip to the US as monarch, on Thursday by marking the 250th anniversary of US independence.

The royal couple will travel to Virginia to join residents at a ‘block-party’ featuring food and entertainment to celebrate America, the creation of the nation’s Founding Fathers described by Charles in his Congress address as ‘bold and imaginative rebels with a cause’.

In one of America’s national parks, the King will meet one of the area’s indigenous communities and people involved in conservation initiatives and efforts to protect the natural environment.

Separately, the Queen will visit a farm to highlight the work of America’s horse racing industry and the long-term links with the sport in the UK.

In a rare interview, the Queen said the trip had been ‘wonderful’.

Speaking to NBC, in an interview to be broadcast in the US on Thursday, Camilla told Jenna Bush Hager: ‘Everybody’s been very kind and welcoming.’

On Tuesday, the British royals attended a lavish state dinner hosted by President Donald Trump and wife Melania Trump at the White House in Washington, DC, amid their four-day state visit.

On Wednesday evening, Trump said the King ‘would have probably helped’ the US in its military offensive against Iran.

The US president made his remarks in the Oval Office following Charles’s speech to Congress, in which the monarch argued the need for a strong Nato and help for Ukraine, which have both been criticised by the American leader.

Mr Trump has repeatedly lambasted the UK for failing to join strikes against Tehran and branded Sir Keir Starmer as weak and indecisive.

The president said: ‘The King is fantastic. We spent a lot of time together. We had a lot of talk. We talked about this also, and he loves his country, and he’s a great king, and he’s a great friend of mine.

‘And I think if he were doing that, if that were up to him, he would have probably helped us with Iran.’

Mr Trump added: ‘I think he’s a phenomenal representative for his country. I think the people in the United Kingdom should be proud.’

Mr Trump also used a speech on Tuesday during the King’s state visit to claim Charles had agreed with him on the need to prevent Tehran getting a nuclear bomb.

Conversations with the monarch are normally kept private, but the president told a white-tie state banquet: ‘We have militarily defeated that particular opponent, and we’re never going to let that opponent ever – Charles agrees with me, even more than I do – we’re never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon.’

In response, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: ‘The King is naturally mindful of his Government’s long-standing and well-known position on the prevention of nuclear proliferation.’

As part of the state visit, UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and her US counterpart Marco Rubio held talks in Washington on the urgent need to restore the free movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Iran conflict and ensuing stand-off between the US and Tehran amid a fragile truce has effectively closed the shipping lane, which is a major route for oil and gas supplies, sending energy prices soaring and damaging the global economy.