Gun salute at the airport, “God Save the King” at the Brandenburg Gate: The British King Charles III. and his wife Camilla begin their three-day state visit to Germany this Wednesday afternoon.
It is the new king’s first trip abroad, also intended as a new beginning three years after Brexit. For some citizens in Berlin, Brandenburg and Hamburg it is the chance to see the royals up close.
This should be possible when greeting state guests with military honors. The ceremonial with honor formation and national anthems is usual, but the place is a premiere: For the first time ever it takes place for a guest of state at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
If you want to experience Charles and Camilla there together with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender, you have to be there hours in advance. The overall security effort is enormous. On Wednesday, 900 police officers and 20 sniffer dogs are said to be on duty in Berlin.
Steinmeier has also planned a reception with experts on the energy transition and sustainability in Bellevue Palace for Wednesday afternoon – a topic that has been of particular interest to Charles for decades. In the evening, the Federal President gives a state banquet with around 130 guests, the men in tails, the women in long. According to reports, the king wants to hold part of his after-dinner speech in German.
Germany and Great Britain are close partners, the royals are traditionally popular here and experienced a wave of sympathy after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September last year. Charles himself knows Germany well. He’s been here around 40 times. The fact that he will now be in his new role as king before his coronation on May 6 is still an important signal.
Exactly six years ago, the British government officially announced its exit from the EU on March 29, 2017, and Brexit was completed on January 31, 2020. Now leave the “tangles of separation” behind and look forward together, according to the Office of the Federal President. There is talk of a “new chapter” in the relationship.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told WELT: “We share so many values and I am very, very glad that this will be a very public opportunity for Britain, through His Majesty’s visit, our real commitment to a long-standing, meaningful friendship with Germany and to demonstrate to the German people.”
British Ambassador Jill Gallard was even clearer in an interview. “This visit was recommended by the British government,” Gallard said on Deutschlandfunk on Wednesday morning. “And it’s no coincidence that this first visit will be to Europe.”
The visit of the royal couple should send a signal of cohesion: Great Britain has left the EU, but not Europe, according to Gallard. In the face of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, “the Germans, the British, the Europeans” worked closely together to support Ukraine. The focus on energy policy is also one of the common goals.
Charles’ first trip abroad was supposed to be to France, but it was postponed because of protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms.
So Berlin is the first stop. Until Friday, Steinmeier and Büdenbender will accompany their guests Charles and Camilla through a packed program that, according to the Office of the Federal President, represents the past, present and future of mutual relationships.
On Thursday, among other things, Charles will give a speech in the Bundestag and make a detour to a German-British battalion and an eco-village in Brandenburg. On Friday, the monarch and his wife will take the ICE to Hamburg with Steinmeier and Büdenbender.
There they visit, among other things, the memorial “Children’s transport – the last goodbye” and the ruins of the Church of St. Nikolai, which was destroyed in World War II.
