The King and Queen have commemorated ‌victims of the September 11, 2001 attack on New York City, laying a floral bouquet at the memorial where the World Trade Centre’s twin towers once stood.

The royal ‌visit to lower Manhattan came at a time of tensions between Britain and the US, with President Donald Trump having criticised Prime Minister Keir Starmer for what he says is his lack of ‌help in the US and Israel’s war with Iran.

Michael Bloomberg, a former New York City mayor, walked the King and Queen to one of the reflecting pools that outline the footprints of the 110-storey towers destroyed when al-Qaeda militants flew two planes into the skyscrapers.

The King laid a bouquet of white lilacs, daffodils and peonies on the bronze parapet surrounding the pool, engraved with the names of all the fatal victims of the attack.

“We honour the memory of all those who so tragically lost their ‌lives on 11th September ‌2001, and stand in ⁠enduring solidarity with the American people in the face of such profound loss. Charles R Camilla R,” a note accompanying the flowers, in the King’s handwriting, read.

The trio stood silently before ​heading into a canopy to meet guests, including relatives of some of the nearly 2800 people killed in New York that day.

The King also spoke to New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani at the ceremony and met the governors of New York and New Jersey.

Britain was an immediate and staunch supporter of the US response to the September 11 attacks, which also included a plane that crashed into the Pentagon and another downed in a Pennsylvania field by passengers who battled hijackers, launching a years-long “war on terror”.

The King referred to September 11 during his speech to the US ⁠Congress on Tuesday, saying “we answered the call together”.

He stressed the historical military and cultural ties between Britain and the US, as ​well as the importance of NATO at a time when Trump has criticised the military defence alliance’s reluctance to actively help with the US-Israeli war on Iran.

The royal couple’s four-day state visit celebrates the 250th anniversary of the US declaration of independence from British rule.

After the September 11 memorial, the King headed to Harlem to visit a grassroots community organisation that created a sustainable after-school urban farming initiative in an effort to combat food insecurity.

Such projects have been a passion of the King for decades.

Meanwhile, the Queen was due to celebrate the 100th birthday of AA Milne’s fictional character Winnie-the-Pooh on behalf of her charity, The Queen’s Reading Room, which Buckingham Palace is calling a “literary engagement” event.

The ​Queen’s New York Public Library visit will include 100 guests from Britain and US literary, cultural and publishing worlds, the palace said.

The Queen will then meet with representatives of ​domestic violence charities in the area.