King Charles issued urgent plea amid growing concern over potential move

King Charles has been warned against taking any misstep amid the ongoing international crisis as he plans to visit the US.

A former British ambassador to Washington has urged the monarch and his wife Queen Camilla to postpone their planned state visit next month.

Sir Peter Westmacott, who represented Britain in the American capital from 2012 to 2016, described the scheduled April trip as "problematic" given current circumstances.

The diplomat, 75, argued that ministers have "a duty to protect the monarchy in a situation like this" and must "reflect public opinion in this country."

Speaking on The Royals podcast, Sir Peter went further to suggest both Downing Street and Buckingham Palace would be weighing whether a royal visit at this juncture might appear to signal endorsement of President Trump's actions.

"While this goes on, that must be a matter for discussion," he added.

A YouGov survey of more than 12,000 respondents published last week revealed that 46 per cent believe the royal visit should be cancelled, while 36 per cent think it should proceed and 18 per cent remain undecided.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has spearheaded parliamentary calls to abandon the trip, arguing it would hand Trump a "huge diplomatic coup" at a time of strained relations between Sir Keir Starmer and Washington over the US and Israeli conflict with Iran.

Sir Peter advocated "A postponement is something quite different from a cancellation as a political gesture – that's a statesmanlike way of managing the issue.

He went on:  "It is too important a relationship for us to mess with and to risk antagonising a somewhat thin-skinned president."