The King and Queen will visit Canada later this month to attend the state opening of parliament, Buckingham Palace has announced.

They will travel to Ottawa on May 26 and their visit will mark the first time that a sovereign has opened the Canadian Parliament since the late Queen in 1977.

It will be the King’s twentieth visit to Canada and the Queen’s fifth, with the most recent being in 2022.

The announcement came days after Mark Carney, Canada’s newly elected prime minister, declared that Donald Trump will not “break” the country with tariffs and threats of annexation.

In recent weeks, the King signalled his support for the commonwealth nation, as constitutional monarch.

He welcomed Justin Trudeau, the outgoing Canadian Prime Minister, to Sandringham in March, and discussions included the need to stand up for Canadian sovereignty and independence.

The following day, he conducted an inspection of HMS Prince of Wales, the British aircraft carrier, with an array of Canadian medals pinned to his naval dress uniform.

A week later, the monarch planted an Acer rubrum – otherwise known as a red maple tree – at Buckingham Palace to honour the late Queen’s commitment to forest conservation.

The King affirmed his “deepest affection” for Canada by holding a private audience at Buckingham Palace with two senior Canadian officials – Greg Peters, the senate’s Usher of the Black Rod, and Raymonde Gagne, the senate speaker.

He also met Mr Carney, who later hailed him a “steadfast defender” of his country.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow