King Charles III concluded his four-day state visit to the United States with quick trip to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia where he got up close and personal Buddy the Bald Eagle. After a busy itinerary in Washington, D.C. and New York City, the 77-year-old monarch swapped formal ballrooms for the Blue Ridge Mountains.
During the visit, he engaged with the U.S. National Park system’s educational programs, participating in a swearing-in ceremony for a new group of Junior Rangers and spent some quality time with Buddy who serves as an educational ambassador.
The royal outing served as a symbolic bridge between the U.S. and the U.K., as the King unveiled commemorative stones marking a new partnership between Shenandoah National Park and the Cairngorms National Park in the Scottish Highlands. The partnership highlights a prehistoric connection between the two parks, as the King noted in his address to Congress the Appalachian and Cairngorm ranges were once part of the same continuous mountain chain before the continents drifted apart. He also met with leaders of the Monacan Indian Nation, honoring a relationship that dates back to a 1680 treaty between the tribe and King Charles II.
