Visit of Charles III to Germany: the busy schedule that awaits the King of England

Europe 1 with AFP 09:01, March 28, 2023

Without going through the France as originally planned, King Charles III travels to Germany on Wednesday for his first major foreign visit since his accession to the throne. After more than six months on the throne, Charles III's first overseas tour was turned upside down by protests in France against pension reform. He was supposed to go to Paris on Monday, before continuing with Germany, but finally gave up given up given the social context.

Buckingham Palace, confirming Friday the postponement of the visit, said it would take place "as soon as dates can be found". For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron raised the possibility of Charles III making a trip to France "at the beginning of the summer". The monarch and Queen Consort Camilla are due to arrive in Berlin on Wednesday and spend three days in the country, until March 31. The couple will be welcomed with military honors at the Brandenburg Gate. This is the first time that a ceremony of this kind has been held for a state guest at the foot of this emblematic Berlin monument.

Meeting with Ukrainian refugees

He will then visit the presidential palace where a banquet will be held as part of the visit, a solemn occasion to celebrate the friendly relationship between two countries. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who will accompany the monarch throughout his trip, called the king's visit "an important European gesture." According to him, "this early visit underlines the close and warm friendship between our countries and peoples".

On Thursday, Charles III is due to deliver a speech in the German parliament and meet Ukrainian refugees. Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the royal couple will then visit a German-British military unit in the Brandenburg region, west of Berlin.

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"Close and friendly ties"

On Friday, the king will travel to the northern port city of Hamburg, where he is expected to visit a renewable energy project. "It's no surprise that since he became king he hasn't abandoned his long-standing interest in environmental issues," Bob Ward of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and Environmental Research told AFP. "This is a subject that transcends politics, and it does not seem possible that as head of state, he does not express himself on such a major subject," he added.

In Hamburg, the king will also lay wreaths at St. Nicholas Church, destroyed during the Second World War and since transformed into a memorial. He will also sign the city's "Golden Book", which he had already signed in 1987 during a visit with his first wife, Princess Diana, when he was still Prince of Wales. Frank-Walter Steinmeier was delighted that his invitation - made at the funeral of Elizabeth II in September - was honoured so quickly by Charles III, who already knows Germany well where he has visited more than 40 times.

"The King appreciates the friendship between our peoples"

"The fact that he is coming today, six months after (his accession to the throne), shows how much the king appreciates the friendship between our peoples," the German president insisted. "I want to say to him, but of course also to all Britons: we in Germany, we in Europe, want close and friendly ties with the UK, even after Brexit." Elizabeth II's last visit to Germany in 2015, under Angela Merkel, sparked great enthusiasm in the country. With her husband Prince Philip, she had visited the former Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen in the north of the country.

The monarch's most memorable visit to Germany was in 1965, seen as the moment that sealed the reconciliation between the two countries after World War II.