'Bare minimum': Britain decides no palace stay or parliamentary speech for Trump in low-key state visit

Opening his speech to British parliamentarians in 2011, President Barack Obama said, “I have known few greater honors than the opportunity to address the Mother of Parliaments at Westminster Hall."

It is an honor that will not be extended to President Trump next week during his first state visit to Britain, one of a number of differences from the trips made by his predecessors.

British and American officials have played down concerns about protests and insist that Trump is being afforded every bit of the usual hospitality — from dinner with the queen to bilateral talks with Theresa May, the prime minister.

But royal watchers said the Trumps will be missing out on many of the trappings of a state visit, such as staying at Buckingham Palace. “Not being invited to speak before Parliament is testament to the fact they know he is going to be rude and there’s going to be massive protests," said Marlene Koenig, an author and expert on British and European royalty.

“They are doing the bare minimum of what they would do for a state visit of a major ally."

Rather than stayinhg with the Queen, Trump will be put up at Winfield House, residence of Woody Johnson, the United States ambassador to the Court of St James's. Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets, was appointed by Trump. Winfield House, a neo-Georgian manion in Regent's Park, has the advantage of being set in 12 acres of grounds, safely away from demonstrators.

Several honors afforded visiting American presidents or other heads of state will be missing.

He will not get the usual welcome in Horse Guards Parade, the grand parade ground in central London where visiting heads of state are usually invited to inspect the honor guard with the queen before a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace.

Instead, he will follow the example of President George W. Bush, who was given his royal welcome in the garden of Buckingham Palace in 2003 because of fears protesters would line the route through London. There, Trump will inspect the guard of honor, comprising the Nijmegen Company Grenadier Guards, with Prince Charles.

The reception stands in contrast to the visit of President John F. Kennedy in 1961. Then, some half a million cheering people gathered simply to catch a glimpse of him and his wife Jackie.

Trump will not get to stay at Buckingham Palace with the Queen. Both Bush and Obama, the only two American presidents to have been granted official state visits, stayed at the royal residence, but Trump has been told that renovations to the east wing of the palace meant its guest rooms were out of service.

American officials were eager to play down any hint of a snub and said the timing of the visit — to coincide with the 75th anniversary of D-Day — illustrated the strong bonds between the two countries. “It gives evidence to the fact that the special relationship between the U.S. and the U.K. is real and enduring,” said a senior administration official. “As the president himself has said, ‘It's a bond like no other.’”

The run-up to this visit featured speculation about whether Trump would be invited to address the British Parliament.

In the end, the speaker — the figure who presides over the House of Commons and who had previously said Trump’s attendance would run counter to Parliament’s longstanding opposition to sexism and racism — said he had not been asked by British officials to host the president. Presidents Obama, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton all addressed Parliament.

A U.K. official said Trump had not requested to address Parliament. "The president not asking to do that is the norm," he said. On both sides of the Atlantic, a mutually-convenient cover story of Trump not being asked to be invited in order to avoid being told he will not be invited appears to have been adopted.

But protesters say they can already claim a victory in ensuring Trump will not address MPs and Lords.

“Our voices are being heard,” said Mohammed Ateek, a Syrian refugee and a spokesman for the Stop Trump Coalition. “What a shame if they had allowed him to address Parliament, which stands up for democracy.

“We contributed to this because if there were no voices being raised against Trump, then they would have said, why not?”

Previous visits have sometimes reflected the warm relations between individual leaders.

In 1982 the queen invited Ronald Reagan to stay with her at Windsor Castle and took him horse riding. A decade late, Bill and Hillary Clinton were treated to a night aboard the royal yacht Britannia.

And in 2011, Obama grilled sausages with David Cameron in the garden of Number 10 during an event for British and American service personnel.