From Prince to King: A timeline of Charles III’s visits to the US

In 1970, King Charles III made his first trip to the United States after becoming heir to the British throne when he visited Washington, D.C. 

During a stop at the nearby home of George Washington in Mount Vernon, Virginia, President Richard Nixon noted previous trips by the Princes of Wales in 1860 and 1919, along with the current visit in 1970, and quipped that the royal heirs visit about every 50 years. 

Turns out, Nixon was partially right. Charles only waited seven years to return, but the idea that the Prince of Wales would come to the historic Virginia home every half-century or so still held up. Few probably imagined that it would be Prince Charles again returning in 2015 for the seemingly semi-annual stop at Mount Vernon.

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In the 45 years between those stops, Charles made more than a dozen visits to the U.S., as well as one last one as Prince of Wales in 2018. Here is a list of his visits:

July 16–18, 1970: Prince Charles visits Mount Vernon, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Prince Charles made his first trip as Prince of Wales and heir to the throne to the United States more than 50 years ago. 

In July 1970, Charles and his sister Princess Anne visited Washington, D.C. after receiving an invitation from the daughters and son-in-law of then-President Richard Nixon. 

October 18–30, 1977: Prince Charles visits Atlanta, Charleston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco

Prince Charles’ longest stay in the United States came seven years later when he arrived for a multi-city tour that took him from coast to coast.

During the trip, Charles went to eight cities over a ten-day stretch. During that time, he visited both historical sites, like the Gateway Arch, and contemporary ones, like the set of M*A*S*H, according to contemporary reports.

April 30-May 3, 1981: Prince Charles visits Williamsburg, Va. and Washington, D.C. 

An honorary fellowship from the College of William and Mary brought Charles back for what would be the first of eight trips to the United States in the 1980s, the most of any decade. William and Mary was founded during the colonial era after receiving a charter from Charles’ predecessors on the throne, the co-rulers King William III and Queen Mary II. 

On the trip, he was also the guest of honor at the Oxford and Cambridge Dinner in Washington, D.C. and attended a private dinner with President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan.

June 17–18, 1981: Prince Charles visits New York City

Charles’ second trip of the year was likely his fastest one, at least in terms of how long it took to cross the pond. He was part of the maiden flight of the Concorde, the supersonic airliner that could travel between London and New York in just three-and-a-half hours.

October 29–30, 1982: Prince Charles visits Montezuma, New Mexico

The Prince of Wales’ next trip came less because of his role in the royal family and more because of his position as the President of the International Council of the United World Colleges.

In October 1982, he traveled to Montezuma, New Mexico, for the opening of the Armand Hammer United World College of the American West.

November 9–13, 1985: Prince Charles visits Palm Beach, Florida and Washington, D.C.

Prince Charles’ trip to the United States in 1985 came with great fanfare as it was the first time he had visited his then-wife Princess Diana. The couple was also welcomed at a state dinner at the White House, which led to the famous photograph of her dancing with John Travolta.

February 17–23, 1986: Prince Charles visits Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, Texas; Palm Springs, California

Prince Charles headed to Texas for a five-day swing through the Lone Star State to celebrate that state’s sesquicentennial. 

September 2–5, 1986: Prince Charles visits Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Chicago, Illinois

Harvard, another university founded during colonial times, turned 350 years old in 1986 and invited Charles for its anniversary celebration. 

Afterward, Charles grabbed his mallet and headed to Chicago for a match at the Oak Brook Polo Club, where he scored two goals to help Great Britain defeat the American team, ABC7 News reported. 

March 4–7, 1988: Prince Charles visits Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

In 1988, Prince Charles headed to the Steel City to serve as the honorary chairman of the American Institute of Architects’ conference, Pittsburgh Magazine reported. While there, he toured the city and its efforts to revitalize old steel mills, industrial ruins, and riverside property.

February 17–20, 1989: Prince Charles visits Vero Beach, Florida, and Washington, D.C.

In 1989, Prince Charles returned to the polo grounds in America for a charity match in Vero Beach, Florida, about 80 miles north of Palm Beach, Vero News reported. Prior to the match, he also petted a Florida panther and had his picture taken with a chimpanzee.

February 16–23, 1990: Prince Charles visits Charleston, South Carolina; Florida; Washington, D.C.

In 1990, the future king visited the South Carolina town named for the last English monarch to share his name: Charles II. The modern-day Charles visited Charleston to attend a Business in the Community conference, the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation wrote on its website. 

"Charleston was very much to his liking, he said the city had a wonderfully human scale – and a good name," Jenrette was quoted as saying. 

Charles’ trip also included a polo match and took him to Florida and Washington, D.C.

February 12–14, 1993: Prince Charles visits Williamsburg, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

The Prince of Wales returned to The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, to help celebrate the 300th anniversary of its founding. 

The trip was the first Charles took after the revelations of his affair with now-Queen Camilla and the official collapse of his marriage with Princess Diana, the Los Angeles Times noted at the time. 

November 1–4, 1994: Prince Charles visits Los Angeles

Prince Charles visited Los Angeles in 1994 to witness the city’s recovery from the riots two years earlier following the acquittal of four officers accused of using excessive force against Rodney King. 

July 17–19, 1996: Prince Charles visits Asheville, North Carolina; Rhode Island; New York

In the first-ever trip by a royal to North Carolina, Charles visited the historic Biltmore Estate, in Asheville, according to WLOS. The trip was to mark the first summer school session of the Prince of Wales Institute of Architecture in the U.S., the report noted.

Additionally, he went to New York and Rhode Island to participate in events connected to the Mary Rose Trust, an organization dedicated to preserving the legacy of the 16th-century warship of that name, which sank in July 1545.

March 26, 1997: Prince Charles visits New York City

Prince Charles returned to New York in 1997 to head to the United Nations headquarters. During his trip, he also stopped at the city’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

July 11, 2004: Prince Charles visits Washington, D.C.

Charles came to the nation’s capital to represent his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, at the funeral for President Ronald Reagan, who had hosted the Prince of Wales during his time in the White House.

November 1–8, 2005: Prince Charles and wife Camilla Parker Bowles visit New Orleans, Louisiana; New York City; San Francisco; Washington, D.C.

In 2005, Charles came to the United States for his first royal tour with his wife, the then-Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles. The multi-city visit included a state dinner hosted by President George W. Bush as well as a trip to Ground Zero, the site of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. 

January 27-28, 2007: Prince Charles and wife Camilla Parker Bowles Philadelphia and New York City

Charles and Camilla made the trip to Philadelphia and traveled to New York City, where former Vice President Al Gore and actress Meryl Streep presented him with the Harvard Medical School’s Center for Health and the Global Environment’s 10th Global Environmental Citizen Award.

March 17–20, 2015: Prince Charles and wife Camilla Parker Bowles visit Louisville, Kentucky; Mount Vernon, Virginia; and Washington, D.C.

Former President Barack Obama hosted Prince Charles at the White House where he joked about Americans’ "fondness" for the royals, saying, some people in the former colonies "liked them much better than their own politicians," the BBC recounted. Charles was also given the International Conservation Caucus Foundation’s exceptional leadership in conservation honor. 

Forty-five years after his first visit to Mount Vernon, during which Nixon said the Princes of Wales seem to come to the U.S. every half-century, Charles was back at the home of America’s first president.

The trip also took him to Louisville, Kentucky, where he attended an international conference on sustainable communities, Reuters reported. 

December 5, 2018: Prince Charles and wife Camilla Parker Bowles visit Washington, D.C.

In December 2018, Charles made his final visit to the United States as the heir to the throne when he attended the state funeral of President George H.W. Bush.