Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla commemorated victims of the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda attack on New York City on Wednesday, laying a floral bouquet at the memorial where the World Trade Center’s twin towers once stood.
The royal visit to lower Manhattan came at a time of tensions between Britain and the U.S., with President Donald Trump having criticized Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the UK to declining to join the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran.
Michael Bloomberg, a former New York City mayor, walked the king and queen to one of the reflecting pools that outline the footprints of the 110-story towers destroyed when al Qaeda militants flew two planes into the skyscrapers.
Charles laid a bouquet of white lilacs, daffodils and peonies on the bronze parapet surrounding the pool, engraved with the names of those killed in the attack.
A note accompanying the flowers, in the king’s handwriting, read: “We honour the memory of all those who so tragically lost their lives on 11th September 2001, and stand in enduring solidarity with the American people in the face of such profound loss. Charles R Camilla R.”
The three stood silently before heading into a canopy to meet with guests including relatives of some of the nearly 2,800 people killed in New York that day.
The king also spoke with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at the ceremony and met the governors of New York and New Jersey.
Britain was an immediate and staunch supporter of the U.S. response to the 9/11 attacks, which also included a plane crashed into the Pentagon and another downed in a Pennsylvania field by passengers who battled hijackers, launching a years-long “war on terror.” King Charles referred to September 11 during his speech to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, saying “we answered the call together.”
Charles stressed the historical military and cultural ties between Britain and the U.S., as well as the importance of NATO at a time when Trump has been critical of the Western military alliance’s reluctance to provide military assistance in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
