Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako will visit Britain at the end of June, spending three days as guests of King Charles III, Buckingham Palace confirmed on Tuesday.
The royal couple is set to arrive on June 22 but will spend the first three days in private engagements before beginning the official state visit, which will run from June 25 to 27.
Naruhito, 64, will meet Charles and his wife Queen Camilla, as well as the monarch’s elder son and heir Prince William and other British royals, in the first Japanese state visit to the UK in more than two decades.
A palace spokesman said the programme had been “slightly adapted” because of the upcoming general election on July 4, without providing exact details.
Visiting heads of state typically hold talks with the prime minister and opposition leader or address lawmakers in parliament.
However, with parliament dissolved and no MPs in place, the government — both ministers and civil servants — are in a pre-election period, which imposes restrictions on their activities.
The packed schedule includes a Guard of Honour ceremony, a carriage procession at Buckingham Palace, and visits to museums and the Francis Crick Institute, a biomedical research centre in London.
On June 25, a state banquet will be hosted by the king at Buckingham Palace in honour of the emperor and empress, with speeches by both monarchs.
On the third day of the state visit, the emperor will visit Windsor Castle, west of London, to lay a wreath on the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II, whose state funeral he and the empress attended in September 2022 during their last visit to the UK.
The Japanese royal couple seldom undertake state visits and are gradually making more trips after limiting them during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This will be the emperor’s second official state visit since his accession to the throne in 2019, following a visit to Indonesia last year.
The late Queen Elizabeth II, who had been on the throne since 1952, hosted two Japanese state visits during her reign: Emperor Hirohito in 1971 and his eldest son, Emperor Akihito — Naruhito’s father — in 1998.
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated on Tuesday that the royal families share a “traditional intimate relationship.”
“I am convinced that the visit will reconfirm the friendship and goodwill of both countries… and I feel immense pleasure together with the people of Japan,” he said in a statement.
State visits generally feature traditional ceremony and pomp, as well as visits to industry and commerce leaders to cement cultural, diplomatic, and economic relations.
So far, Charles, 75, has received two state visits: by the presidents of South Africa in 2022 and South Korea last year.
Notably absent this time will be William’s wife, Catherine, Princess of Wales. She is receiving chemotherapy treatment for cancer and was last seen at a public engagement in December last year.
Charles also announced in February that he had cancer, without specifying the type, and has only recently resumed public engagements.
On June 28, the Japanese emperor and empress will visit Oxford, where they studied, for private engagements before leaving the UK.
