Windsor, UK - Donald Trump was welcomed by King Charles III to Windsor Castle Wednesday with a royal spectacle featuring gun salutes, mounted horses, and bagpipes as the US president's state visit got into full swing.

The pair laughed and joked as Trump inspected troops at the castle west of London, in an elaborate welcome designed to play into the Republican's love of pomp and pageantry.

About 120 horses, and 1,300 members of the British military – some in red tunics and gold plumed helmets – feted Trump during a ceremonial guard of honor that UK officials called the largest for a state visit to Britain in living memory.

Heir-to-the-throne Prince William and his wife Catherine warmly greeted Trump and First Lady Melania Trump after the Marine One helicopter touched down in the grounds of Windsor at 12:15 PM local time.

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Inside a ring of steel, under gray skies and out of sight from protesters, William and Catherine then walked Trump and his wife a short distance to meet the waiting Charles and Queen Camilla.

As the president shook hands with the king, a 41-gun salute was fired simultaneously from six World War 1-era guns on the castle's east lawn, as a similar display occurred at the Tower of London.

The Trumps and the royals enjoyed a carriage procession featuring mounted cavalry through the Windsor estate towards the nearly 1,000-year-old castle, where Trump and Charles inspected the guard of honor.

Britain's elite is going the extra mile to flatter Trump as it tries to keep him onside during a host of international crises.

The 79-year-old Republican is, however, being kept far away from Britons among whom polls indicate Trump remains hugely unpopular, with the entire visit happening behind closed doors.

The specter of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein also loomed, and British police caused outrage by arresting four people after images of Trump and the infamous financier were projected onto Windsor Castle late Tuesday.

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Thousands were expected to attend protests planned in London later Wednesday.

Trump is the first US president to receive two state visits, after his previous one with Queen Elizabeth II in 2019.

He will also be the first to get a joint flypast by US and UK fighter jets at an event of its kind. It will feature US and British F-35 military jets and the Royal Air Force's Red Arrows display team.

The Trumps will lay a wreath on the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II, who died in 2022, and the president and Charles will wrap up Wednesday with a white-tie state banquet, where they are due to make speeches.

Beleaguered British Prime Minister Keir Starmer – whose ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson was also caught up in the Epstein scandal – will host Trump on the second day of the visit on Thursday at his country residence, Chequers.