US delegation for Charles' Coronation compared to Queen's as Biden stays away
First Lady Jill Biden and her granddaughter Finnegan Biden are in attendance at the Coronation today.
President Joe Biden did not attend, as is customary for US presidents. No US president has ever attended the coronation of a British monarch.
The White House said in a statement: "There is no official US delegation. Finnegan is a plus one.
"As we’ve noted before with other family travel, historically, family members of Presidents have frequently joined them during travel. Current practices are consistent with those used by prior Administrations."
The unofficial delegation is smaller in comparison to the group that attend the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, when Dwight D Eisenhower was president.
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Finnegan Biden (left) and First Lady Jill Biden attend the Coronation at Westminster Abbey earlier today (Getty Images)Eisenhower sent four delegates to represent the US at the Coronation, also at Westminster Abbey.
Two World War 2 generals, a magazine editor and a governor arrived at the Abbey on the big day. So who were they?
General George C Marshall
General George C Marshall served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Army during World War 2.
At the Coronation of the late Queen, he was the "only commoner" in attendance at her table at the Buckingham Palace banquet following the service.
Katherine and George Marshall with Winston Churchill (GCMF)During the administration of President Harry Truman, General Marshall served as the US envoy to China, before a role as the secretary of state from 1947 to 1949.
His final key role was as the secretary of defence under Present Truman from 1950 to 1951, before he retired.
Largely staying out of public life, General Marshall still decided to accept Eisenhower's invitation to lead the delegation in 1953.
Remarkably, fellow dignitary General Omar Bradley, also a five-star general, said people stood up as a mark of respect as General Marshall walked to his seat.
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. General Marshall is present in the top right (GCMF)The George C Marshall website reads: "President Eisenhower designated Marshall to lead the US Delegation to the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953. Other members included Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren and fellow 5-star General Omar Bradley.
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"At the Westminster Abbey ceremony, Bradley said that as Marshall walked up the aisle to his seat, everyone stood up. Marshall looked around for the arriving dignitary, only to realise it was he.
"Marshall also wrote [to] Truman that he had been the only one of the delegation invited to the banquet at Buckingham Palace, and he had sat at the Queen’s table of 30 guests, two seats from her, between the Queen Mother and Princess Alice, the Duchess of Gloucester and aunt to Elizabeth. He was the only commoner."
His presence on the table was likely not a surprise as General Marshall was among those to whom the Queen wrote back after her father King George VI died.
In response to his sympathy note, the Queen wrote: "Dear General Marshall, I was deeply touched by your kind letter of sympathy, and I do want to thank you with all my heart for your thought in writing.
"I know that the King very much enjoyed meeting you, and I remember so well when you were here during the war.
"With again my thanks to you and Mrs. Marshall for thinking of us at this time of great sorrow I am, yours, very sincerely, Elizabeth R."
Fleur Cowles
Fleur Cowles was a writer, artist and magazine editor that founded Flair.
The short-lived magazine was briefly influential in the early 1950s, but soon closed.
Among its remarkable list of contributors were Winston Churchill, WH Auden, Lucian Freid, Simone de Beauvoir and Tennessee Williams.
Fleur Cowles was the only female member of the delegation (Mirrorpix via Getty Images)The Rhode Island Current said: "In some ways, this was Eisenhower’s most inscrutable choice. A self-made woman – she was born Florence Freidman, the daughter of a salesman – Cowles had only recently become a powerful presence in the Republican Party. She and her husband gave generously to Ike’s presidential campaign."
Reports from the time indicate her presence in the delegation was not met with goodwill by all.
One commentator at the time said that a GI would be a better fit, but Eisenhower apparently disagreed.
Her long life ended in Surrey in 2009 at the age of 101.
General Omar Bradley
General Omar Bradley attended the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II as Eisenhower's then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
He served in this role under both President Truman and Eisenhower and was previously the US Army's chief of staff.
Bradley (left) was a key general during World War 2 (Getty Images)During World War 2, Bradley had command of the army's ground forces as it attacked NAzi Germany from its western flank.
The Normany 1944 website said: "From the Normandy landings through the end of the war in Europe, Bradley had command of all U.S. ground forces invading Germany from the west; he ultimately commanded forty-three divisions and 1.3 million men."
Earl Warren
The last of the four delegates was Chief Justice Earl Warren.
He was the Republican governor of California at the time of the Coronation and he had previously served as the GOP chair.
A few months after the Coronation, Eisenhower nominated Warren to become the 14th chief justice of the united states, heading up the Supreme Court.
Earl Warren served as the Governor of Califonia before he was nominated to the Supreme Court by Eisenhower (Bettmann Archive)He served in this role for 16 years and one of his rulings included judging racial segregation in schools as unconstitutional, according to a biography by the University College of San Diego, where there is a college named after him.
Biden 'snubs' Coronation
Biden received some criticism for choosing not to attend the coronation, but no US president has ever visited the historic event and he called the King in April to inform him that the First Lady would attend in his place.
The White House is adamant that the move is not a snub and points out this is the first time a family member of a sitting president has attended the coronation of a British monarch.
No American president has attended a coronation (PA)During the service, the incumbent president tweeted: "Congratulations to King Charles III and Queen Camilla on their Coronation. The enduring friendship between the U.S. and the U.K. is a source of strength for both our peoples.
"I am proud the First Lady is representing the United States for this historic occasion."
The First Lady added: "The United States and the United Kingdom have a special relationship. It’s an honor to represent the United States on this historic day at Westminster Abbey."
The US sent an unofficial delegation (Getty Images)The President, who recently announced he would run again for the top office in 2024, accepted an invitation from the King to attend a state visit to the UK, though no date has yet been set.
Former President Donald Trump said: "I was surprised when I heard that he wasn’t coming.
"I think it’s very disrespectful for him not to be there."
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