John Swinney will meet King Charles at a sleepover at Windsor Castle on Wednesday evening. The First Minister will be hosted by the King alongside other political leaders from across the UK.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also been invited, as well as devolved leaders from Wales and Northern Ireland. A number of the leaders will reportedly stay in Windsor, but Starmer and Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill have decided to not spend the night at the royal residence.
Swinney also met the King in September to mark 25 years of the Scottish Parliament. The pair met just months earlier at Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on the eve of the SNP’s catastrophic general election loss.
This will not be Prime Minister Starmer’s first attendance at such an event. In April 2023, as Leader of the Opposition, Starmer attended a so-called “dine and sleep” evening, also at Windsor Castle, the first of the King’s reign.
Among other guests at the 2023 event were then-England football manager Gareth Southgate. The late Queen also traditionally hosted such events at Windsor around Easter. The King hosts dinners every year for guests across politics as well as the arts, science, charity and other sectors.
The event comes after Starmer and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner joined Charles on a rare joint engagement in Cornwall to see a sustainable housing project which was inspired by the monarch.
The King, Starmer and Rayner carried out three engagements in Nansledan, a 540-acre extension to the seaside town of Newquay.
Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on Wednesday’s event.
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