Japanese Emperor Naruhito to pay state visit to UK, Buckingham Palace says

LONDON (Reuters) – Japanese Emperor Naruhito and his wife Empress Masako will pay a state visit to Britain in late June as guests of King Charles and his wife Queen Camilla, Buckingham Palace said on Friday.

The announcement comes as the palace revealed that the 75-year-old British monarch would be returning to public-facing duties after undergoing treatment and recuperation following his cancer diagnosis in February.

Charles and Camilla will host the Emperor and his wife at Buckingham Palace, the statement said, adding that no further details of the visit had been finalised to allow for possible modifications to minimise any risks to the king’s recovery.

Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun daily reported last month that Naruhito and Masako would attend a luncheon with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and might visit Oxford University, where the emperor and his wife both studied before their 1993 marriage.

The imperial couple last visited Britain in 2022 to attend the state funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth. A planned trip by Charles and Camilla to Japan in 2020 had to be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.