Watch President Donald Trump Meet Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, Get 21-Gun Salute

President Trump's arrival at Buckingham Palace on Monday was marked by a 21-gun salute and a handshake with Queen Elizabeth II.

President Trump kicked off a three-day state visit to the United Kingdom this week, touching down in Marine One at 9 a.m. local time. The president and First Lady Melania joined the royal family for a number of official events and meetings with all the formalities the monarchs could muster, including a 21-gun salute on Monday morning.

The president and the first lady disembarked from their military helicopter on the lawn of Buckingham Palace on Monday, where Prince Charles and Lady Camilla Parker Bowles were waiting to greet them.

Crossing the grass, they met with Queen Elizabeth waiting on the patio for them. President Trump shook hands with her and exchanged smiles, as did the first lady, before following her into the palace.
At that point, the 21-gun salute began nearby, in Green Park beside the palace grounds, according to CBS News. Elsewhere, another royal salute was fired off at the Tower of London near the Thames River.

All pundits agree that this state visit will be filled with all of the pageantry the royal family has at their disposal. The president is expected to hold some important talks about policy with the Prime Minister and other officials, but his visit is also largely a symbolic one, as the U.K. and the U.S. are each going through divisive political periods.

Accordingly, there are reportedly thousands of protesters expected at some of the president's appearances, as there were for his last visit to the U.K. President Trump will meet with members of the royal family both in public and in private, except for Meghan Markle, who is not scheduled to attend any of his events.

Markle was outspoken against Trump as a candidate and a president-elect before she joined the royal family. In interviews she called him "divisive" and "misogynistic." Now, she is held to a royal standard of media comportion, so she does not use social media or speak as freely on TV.

The president responded to Markle's refusal to meet with him in an interview with The Sun on Saturday. On camera, the president was recorded saying Markle was "nasty," although he later denied this quote on Twitter, calling it "fake news."

Markle has not issued a statement on her absence from the president's state visit. President Trump will meet with Prince Harry and other public figures throughout the coming days.