King Charles III to Host Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu on Historic UK State Visit
King Charles III and Queen Camilla will host Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu on a state visit to the United Kingdom from 18 to 19 March, Buckingham Palace has announced.
The visit will take place at Windsor Castle and marks Nigeria’s first state visit to the UK in 37 years, highlighting a renewed phase in diplomatic relations between the two countries.
State visits are among the highest forms of diplomatic engagement, using ceremonial tradition and royal hospitality as a form of soft-power diplomacy to strengthen ties with key international partners.
The last time a Nigerian leader undertook a state visit to the UK was in 1989, when military ruler General Ibrahim Babangida visited the late Queen Elizabeth II for a four-day trip.
Although this will be President Tinubu’s first formal state visit since taking office in 2023, he has previously met King Charles on several occasions. Tinubu and his wife were received at Buckingham Palace in September 2024, and later held a bilateral meeting with the King on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai.
However, a state visit carries a higher level of ceremonial importance, typically involving carriage processions, military honours and a state banquet, as well as political meetings with UK leaders. Such pageantry is designed to underscore the importance of the relationship between the host nation and its guest.
The visit comes amid strengthening diplomatic and economic ties between the UK and Nigeria. Trade between the two countries was valued at more than £8 billion in the year to October, according to UK government figures, making Nigeria one of Britain’s most important partners in Africa.
Read Also: More Than 200 Killed in Mine Collapse at Rubaya Coltan Site in Eastern DR Congo
In 2024, the UK and Nigeria signed a new trade and investment partnership aimed at expanding business opportunities and boosting economic cooperation.
While the full agenda for the March visit has not yet been disclosed, it is expected to include formal engagements and high-level political discussions. In 2025 alone, King Charles presided over three state visits — from France’s President Emmanuel Macron, US President Donald Trump, and Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier — the first time the UK has hosted that many in a single year since 1988.
King Charles has longstanding personal ties to Nigeria, a fellow Commonwealth nation. He has previously expressed his fondness for Nigerian Pidgin English and Afrobeats music.
Before becoming monarch, he visited Nigeria four times as Prince of Wales — in 1990, 1999, 2006 and 2018 — with Queen Camilla accompanying him on the most recent visit.
In 2023, The King’s Trust International (formerly The Prince’s Trust) officially launched in Nigeria, unveiling initiatives aimed at tackling youth unemployment and supporting entrepreneurship.
