King Charles Has Not Ruled Out a State Visit to China
A senior royal aide has said King Charles would "think about it very carefully" if the government asked him to make a state visit to China, The Telegraph reported on 7 November 2026. No such request has been made. The Times reported the same day that the UK government has not asked for an invitation for the King to visit China.
A state visit is the most formal kind of trip a monarch makes overseas. It comes with a full programme of ceremony, including a banquet and a formal welcome, and it is arranged with the government of the day, which advises the monarch on overseas travel. The aide's words, as the Telegraph quoted them, were: "If the Government said, 'Will the King go to China?', I think we [would] think about it very carefully."
The reports matter because such a trip would be a first in a long time. Royal Central, which published on 9 November 2026, noted that a King Charles state visit would be the first British state visit to China in 40 years. The last one was Queen Elizabeth II's visit in October 1986.
The royal family has had a mixed history with China in recent years. Prince William made a visit to mainland China in 2015, the first royal trip there since 1986. The same year, Prince Charles, as he then was, stayed away from a state banquet held at Buckingham Palace for the Chinese President, Xi Jinping. The Times later reported, in 2017, that Charles had previously refused to visit China.
The King's most recent state visit was to the United States in April 2026. He and Queen Camilla spent four days there, and he addressed the US Congress, according to Reuters.
Palace aides, quoted in the Telegraph's report, described the King as a "great secret weapon" in diplomatically difficult regions. No government position on a China trip has been announced.
For now, the position is simple. The palace has said it would consider a request. The government has not made one, and no date, destination or programme has been announced for any visit to China.
