King Charles hosted several state visits last year and he pretty much did the same thing for every visit. Because of the renovation work at Buckingham Palace, Charles has been hosting state visits at Windsor Castle, which actually works out well. There’s much more space for those weird-ass carriage processions and for the state dinners. Hosting visits in Windsor also makes it easy for the Windsor-based Prince and Princess of Wales to take on some added responsibility. The bar is set in hell for Prince William and Kate, so “added responsibilities” for this pair of lazy 40-somethings is pretty minimal. Basically, Charles orders William and Kate to act as chauffeurs and airport greeters. It’s hilarious. Not only that, but Charles consistently refuses to allow William and Kate to stand on the dais alongside the heads of state. Anyway, Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his wife will make a state visit to the UK next week. Guess who got the “major role” of chauffeur??
Prince William and Catherine, The Princess of Wales will undertake major roles next week, as Buckingham Palace has confirmed the President and First Lady of Nigeria will visit the UK on a State Visit. The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, will travel to the UK as the guests of King Charles and Queen Camilla from Wednesday, March 18 to Thursday, March 19, 2026.
After arriving on Tuesday 17, the President and First Lady will be greeted by the Prince and Princess of Wales the following morning at the Fairmont Hotel Windsor. The group of four will then travel to Datchet Road, Windsor, where Mr and Mrs Tinubu will receive a Ceremonial Welcome.
The King and Queen will formally welcome the Nigerian President and First Lady at the Royal Dais, on Datchet Road, as a Royal Salute is fired in the Home Park in Windsor, and at the Tower of London. Mr and Mrs Tinubu will then join Charles, Camilla, William and Catherine in a carriage procession to Windsor Castle.
In the Quadrangle of Windsor Castle, the carriage procession will be met by a Guard of Honour formed by the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards with the Royal Standard of the Regiment, with the Corps of Drums of the Battalion and the Band of the Regiment, mounted in the Quadrangle. The Guard of Honour will give a Royal Salute, and the Band will play the Nigerian and British National Anthems.
The Nigerian President, accompanied by the King, will inspect the Guard of Honour before rejoining the Queen and the First Lady on the dais. Together with the Prince and Princess of Wales, they will view the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery March Past, the Sovereign’s Escort Rank Past and the Guard of Honour March Past.
In the afternoon, Charles and Camilla will invite Mr and Mrs Tinubu to view a special exhibition of items relating to Nigeria from the Royal Collection, in the Green Drawing Room.
In the evening, Charles, Camilla and other members of the Royal Family will host a State Banquet at Windsor Castle, where the King and the President will both deliver speeches.
The change-up this time is that William and Kate aren’t even capable of being airport greeters for the Nigerians. Or hey, maybe they flatly refused to do an airport greeting this time! No, it’s far more likely that the Nigerian delegation simply wants to rest overnight after a long flight, and then the state visit officially starts the next morning. Still, it’s completely crazy how people are supposed to ooh and aah over the 43 year old heir to the throne and his 44 year old wife going to a hotel to pick up the king’s guests. Such big jobs! So important! Such a future king and queen!
I crack up every time I see those photos of the dais staging. Charles and Camilla are petty as hell.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
