King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla arrive in Berlin on Wednesday (29/03), starting a historic three-day visit to Germany. Charles’s first trip abroad since his proclamation as head of state marks an attempt to close the wounds opened by Brexit between the British and the European continent. The tour was supposed to start in France, but protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform caused the country’s visit to be canceled.
Marcio Damasceno, RFI correspondent in Berlin
King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla are received this Wednesday (29/03) at the airport in Berlin with 21 gun salutes. Afterwards, the couple heads to the Brandenburg Gate, in the center of the German capital, saluted with military honors. This is the first time that an official state visitor has received this kind of honor in this Berlin landmark. And the public queued from 10 am to see the royal couple.
Later, is expected to participation dthe monarchs at a reception given by the German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, with the theme of energy transition and sustainability.charles will has been committed to protecting nature for decades. AT In the evening, he and his wife are guests of honor at a banquet for about 130 guests.
non-bundestag speech
The various stages of the trip aim to draw a line between the past, present and future of relations between Germany and the United Kingdom. Tomorrow, Thursday (30), the British King will meet with the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and will also speak at the Bundestag, the German Parliament. This is yet another unprecedented event, as it is the first time that a monarch has made a speech in the house.
Also on Thursday, Charles will visit an organic products fair in the capital in the morning and later, an organic agriculture project on the outskirts of Berlin.
But the agenda for the second day of the trip is not just about ecology. On Thursday, the Ukrainian War is also the subject, albeit indirectly, when a trip to a refugee center in Berlin and to a military unit north of the German capital where close collaboration between British and German soldiers is carried out.
On Friday, Charles and Camilla visit Hamburg, where the monarch participates in an event on the theme of sustainability and green energy.
The common past between the two countries is also a theme in the northern German city, where Charles visits a railway terminal from where around 10,000 Jewish children were sent to the United Kingdom in the 1930s, escaping the Nazi gas chambers. Afterwards, he participates in a ceremony in memory of the victims of World War II.
The presidentSteinmeier said that the King Charles III’s visit marks a new beginning in German-UK relations. But the visit aims to not only mark a new beginning for ties between the two countries, but also between the UK and the European Union. The arrival of Charles III in Berlin takes place exactly on the sixth anniversary of the official declaration ofo government of United Kingdom dthe departure of the country from the UniEuropean. And this is no coincidence.
Visit from an old acquaintance
The British king visits Germany in the role of an old acquaintance who arrives to give a new start to a relationship that has been strained in recent years due to the Brexit skirmishes. And no one is better suited than Charles to take on that role. The monarch is not only of German descent, but has also been to the country around 40 times. The first time was in 1962, at the age of 13, with her father, Prince Philip.
The expectation and always grande when members of the royal family visit the country. The GermansDogs are fans of British royalty. German newspapers publish extensive coverage.
On television, the monarch’s appointments in Germany will be broadcast live and special programs about the visit are also planned.
A sign that shows how the visit has a special meaning is that in the three days of the tour, the royal couple is accompanied practically all the time by the German president and his wife, Elke Büdenbender. Charles is a personal friend of the German head of state.