White House State Dinner guest list: King Charles and Queen Camilla honoured at banquet - who got an invite and what's on the menu?
Following King Charles’ historic speech to Congress, attention turns to the White House state banquet - guest list and menu revealed
King Charles and Queen Camilla were guests of honour at a White House banquet on Tuesday night, hosted by US president Donald Trump and his wife, Melania. Joining them, the guest list reads like the who’s who of America’s rich and powerful from JD Vance to Jeff Bezos.
Big names from both sides of the Atlantic made the guest list for the star-riddled event, which featured speeches from both leaders. Returning to the same themes from his Capitol Hill address, The King said: “Yes, we have had our moments of difficulty even in more recent history.
“When my mother visited in 1957, not the least of her tasks was to help put the ‘special’ back into our relationship after a crisis in the Middle East. Nearly 70 years on, it is hard to imagine anything like that happening today.”
King Charles White House state banquet guest list
A host of notable figures were at the dinner, alongside dozens of dignitaries, diplomats and representatives of the cultural and political scenes in the UK and US. Among those in attendance were golfing ace Rory McIlroy - who golf fan Trump mentioned by name during his speech - as well as Amazon boss Jeff Bezos and Apple chief Tim Cook.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio and his UK counterpart Yvette Cooper were also at the banquet, while US defence secretary Pete Hegseth - fresh off the back of comments ridiculing the “big, bad Royal Navy” which the King served in - and General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Vice President JD Vance was also there with his wife, while other prominent Republican politicians dining included House Speaker Mike Johnson and Lindsay Graham. From the judicial branch, Supreme Court justices including Chief Justice John Roberts were also expected at the event.
From the media, presenters from Trump’s favourite channel, Fox News, were also invited, including Maria Bartiromo, Ainsley Earhardt, Greg Gutfeld, Laura Ingraham, Bret Baier and Jesse Watters, as well as Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott. Other media personalities at the White House included Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, as well as David Ellison - the controversial media investor favoured by the Trump Administration.
From the tech world, joining Cook and Bezos were Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Marc Andreessen and Marc Benioff.
White House banquet menu
Diners at the glitzy dinner will enjoy a starter of delicate garden herb velouté, complemented by a hearts of palm salad, and finished with crisp toasted shallots and micro mint.
For the second course there is a handcrafted spring herb ravioli, with herbs from the White House Kitchen Garden, filled with creamy ricotta, morels, dressed with a light parmesan emulsion.
Diners will then be presented with a classic dover sole meunière, bathed in a nutty brown butter. It will be accompanied by sweet snow peas, layered potatoes pave and a parsley oil.
For dessert, guests will be served a sweet beehive shaped chocolate gâteau with a smooth vanilla bean cremeux custard, set inside with an almond joconde. The beehive will be complimented with creme fraiche ice cream and White House honey.
Wines were selected to complement the menu and reflect the shared heritage and enduring friendship between the US and UK.
They were a Hopkins Riesling “Heritage” 2024, Hopkins Vineyards, the Penner-Ash Pinot Noir “Willamette Valley” 2022, Penner-Ash Wine Cellars and the Newton Chardonnay “Unfiltered” 2022, Newton Vineyard.