Over one million people in Britain have signed a petition calling for US President Donald Trump's planned state visit to be cancelled to avoid embarrassing Queen Elizabeth.
The invitation to make a state visit, which will involve lavish displays of royal pageantry and a banquet hosted by the monarch, was conveyed by Prime Minister Theresa May when she visited Trump in Washington last week.
But May came under pressure to cancel the visit after Trump issued an executive order barring Syrian refugees from the United States and suspending travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, sparking protests at home and abroad.
The petition against the state visit, which is on the British parliament's website currently has over 1.3 million signatories.
"Donald Trump should be allowed to enter the UK in his capacity as head of the US Government, but he should not be invited to make an official State Visit because it would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen," the petition says.
A growing list of politicians were also calling for the visit to be cancelled, including several lawmakers from May's own Conservative Party, opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
"We must now rescind the offer of a full state visit for President Trump - until this ban is lifted. I don't believe the people of London will support rolling out the red carpet until this happens," Khan wrote in the Evening Standard.
A spokeswoman for May told reporters Britain disagreed with Trump's executive order, but the prime minister's Downing Street office later made clear cancelling the visit was not on the cards.
"To be clear, the prime minister extended an invitation on behalf of the Queen - and she was very happy to do so. The USA is one of this country's closest allies, and we look forward to hosting the president later this year," Downing Street said.
The petition against the visit was the second most popular ever on the parliamentary website, after one calling for a second referendum on membership of the European Union drew over 4 million signatures last year.
Once a petition passes 100,000 signatures, lawmakers must consider it for debate.
