The report drowned in the Brandenburg rain, but the king was in a good mood. While the entourage was still excitedly discussing how to deal with the surprising downpour, how to possibly change the program in the Brodowin eco-village and how to keep the still uncrowned head as dry as possible, Karl the Third grabbed an umbrella and trudged ahead into the next hall . There he grabbed a knife and cut a cake in the shape of the crown he will be wearing from May and took a bite. This is what leadership looks like. But also agriculture. And Charles is both king and pawn.
An impossible combination, one might think: here the highest in the state and there the lowest – at least if you think in terms of the medieval categories that the British monarchy represents in the eyes of its critics. Inherited titles, wealth acquired in the gene lottery (and still expensive appanages), bugbears with rituals, uniforms and medals. Not good times for the Windsors and their business model: Australia no longer wants them, in Great Britain eggs sometimes fly when the king comes. The family has been at odds and at odds for decades. Charles the Last?
Ironically, the three days in Germany that ended on March 31 in Hamburg with a party (including the Beatles cover band) could bring about a turning point, as Charles III. seen at home. And one for the better. We Teutons, deprived of monarchy more by history than by will and by nature, showed the British how nice it can be to have a king – and he showed us how a modern monarch can behave: charming and open, close to the people and honest, a peoples connector and family man. A protector of soil and fatherland, eco and a military. Germany is a bit shocked. With a lot of Chingderassa boom. And yet very sustainable.
The chronicle of this heart-conquering journey begins on a very, very wide red carpet at BER. The burgundy Bentley will have to wait. After the historic howitzers have fired their blanks into the cloudy sky, the king takes his time. He shakes soldiers’ hands. Not one, but all. Again and again he will blow up the schedule in the coming days because he talks to people.
A good 1,500 people have been waiting for the king at the Brandenburg Gate since early morning – security screened. Many Zehlendorfer down jacket families, Emily and Justus are also there. A few pranksters got cardboard crowns at Burger King. Well, this is Berlin. Ms. Henkel is interviewed for Das Erste. She wears a small hat at an angle on her head, as if she were the Duchess of Düsseldorf, and lists the “royal occasions” on which she has already been to London: on all of them. Now she would like to get to know Charles, talk to him. You smile and think if she can shake his hand, she’s already won. think.
But first the formalities. No head of state has ever been received here with military honours. Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his partner come, Elke Büdenbender gets caught in the cobblestone. Applause. Then the limousine with Charles and Camilla. The couples, as you can see, understand each other and chat freely. Some jokes. Again and again the king’s hand rests on the arm of the federal president. Then the Bundeswehr presents the rifles, eyes left, eyes right, “God Save the King” and “Song of the Germans”. The two couples, more of a quartet, dissolve everything that is overly soldierly with a beaming smile. Although it was asserted so often in the next few days that one could almost become suspicious: Germans and Britons have been connected in a unique friendship for decades. Everything about this visit proves this.
What do people expect from their moment with a king? A handshake, a word? Definitely a selfie. Everyone films, even the ones with the Burger King crowns. One offers the king his. “I’m fine,” says Charles. Means: Thanks, I already have. Hot temper is said to be stiff upper lip. We remember the pictures when the filler failed and he stomped away shouting abuse. Now he flirts with people, he catches them. The teenagers with the head scarves and braces, the newsboy cap madame brand “So know, Mr. King”, the photo hunters and of course Mrs. Henkel, whose heart he has long since conquered. Not everyone gets a turn, but everyone gets something. Everyone goes home happy. In Berlin, Brandenburg and at the Dammtor in Hamburg, where he was even greeted with chants and spontaneously walked into the crowd.
Charles. 74 years old, the eternal prince. Son of a mother who was perhaps kinder to her nation than to her children. The Queen’s sense of duty was so overwhelming that she almost robbed her son of his destiny to be king. First permanent job at 73 was the headline in the “taz” when he succeeded Elizabeth to the throne after her death. His mother was a figure of the century, the last great personality of the 20th century. What she was, Charles can never be again. That makes the king humble. “I hope we live long enough to come back,” he said later at the state banquet. The man is not even crowned.
Guests are arriving in Bellevue, former Federal Presidents and ambassadors. The singer Campino, who is called a punk, in tails. Angela Merkel with shoes that the whole internet laughed at her the next day because they are the shoes of a pensioner that she is now. Motsi Mabuse, who is a judge on Strictly Dancing in England. They really wanted Charles and Camilla there, they’re fans. In the morning, the idea of the royal couple sitting in the palace and watching dance shows was absurd. Not anymore after just a few hours in Berlin.
The royal couple and the Germans have reached the top of the stairs when the photographers call for a subject. “Frank,” says Büdenbender and taps her husband, who taps Charles, and there they are, as if they were going to the barbecue a little overdressed.
The food was a testament to fairly orthodox regional cuisine. Very sustainable, the card already tastes like this for the king. Starter: Pickled carp with Erfurt flower cress. From Erfurt! Served with broth from hedge cattle, a kind of aurochs. It’s so German that Hermann the Cheruscan ate it. Finally – it reads more like the menu of a “literature café” in the provinces: “Prunes with East Frisian black tea and shortbread.” Incidentally, the king really likes vanilla ice cream.
There were three speeches in Berlin: once in Bellevue, where the Federal President praised all the topics that Charles likes, especially sustainable action, then before the banquet and finally in the Bundestag. The king spoke twice, and his appearance before Parliament was a triumph of humour, charm and a clear stance, including on the conflict in Ukraine. In all the speeches it became clear that King Charles III. will test how far a British king can go politically. His mother had denied herself that all her life. Charles is a very different ruler. He knows the diplomatic paths from an early age. But he leaves her calculated and smart. That’s probably the Prince Philip portion.
Charles’s speech in the Bundestag even got the members of the two extremist parties clapping. The Left had scoffed at a monarch speaking in Parliament. He caught her. Just like the people on Wittenbergplatz, where he and Camilla – while the dozens of security guards, attachés, officers, bodyguards, MI5 officers dropped their earplugs in panic – threw themselves into a crowd that could hardly have been denser. The king tasted his way through the stands like an agriculture minister at the Green Week. Interested in honey and what kind of wood is used to smoke it. Organic farmer Charles in the midst of organic Germans.
The chameleon nature of the king: he changes from the farmer to the head of state and a short time later to the military. At Finowfurt, a German-British battalion laid a bridge over the Oder-Havel Canal. Charles marched onto the swaying pontoons, the soldiers saluted, the officer Charles shook, right, hands and, right, talked, talked, talked. You couldn’t hear what was said, but you could see it. The recipient, Vladimir Putin, will be able to decipher them easily: Germany and the U.K. go together in the current, build bridges, cross banks.
The other indirectly direct political message he sent to his own people. With the pictures from the refugee accommodation, he said to the British, from whom not only the king expects more solidarity with refugees: Look here. It’s the Germans! And so grabs her pride. England’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has officially sent Charles on this trip, as is customary. It’s easy to imagine that he played gangs over his strong king.
Charles is capable of gestures his mother, who lived through World War II, was unable to do. On March 31, at the St. Nicolai memorial in Hamburg, together with Steinmeier and Mayor Peter Tschentscher, he bowed to the German victims of the British bombing during National Socialism. Reconciliation cannot be documented more clearly.
The host deserves praise too. The points of visit reflected the German majority: support for Ukraine – yes. Climate protection – definitely. Organic farming – gladly. But please hyggelig and organic market nice. And Bentley will probably still be allowed to drive. A friendly and modern, basically happy Germany that stands by its friends and the special responsibility. And so enthusiastic… Well, if you want to advertise your country, you don’t have to buy a World Cup anymore. He should just invite the king.