The British King Charles III. and his wife Camilla are starting the second day of their state visit to Germany today. The central point is a speech by the monarch around noon in the Bundestag – an appearance that is not entirely uncontroversial.
Left boss Martin Schirdewan criticized the fact that “someone who was literally born with a golden spoon in his mouth” can be written into the family book.
Yesterday, the royal couple had already triggered some enthusiasm after their arrival in Berlin. Charles and Camilla were greeted with military honors by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender at the Brandenburg Gate and cheered by onlookers. In the evening, the Federal President honored the monarch and his wife with a state banquet with 130 invited guests.
Both heads of state emphasized the importance of the close German-British relations and announced their intention to expand them further. “I can only assure you that during the time that I will have as king, I will do everything to further strengthen our relations,” Charles said in his dinner speech. He and his wife were “deeply touched” by the warm welcome in Germany.
King Charles III meets Scholz
In the morning, Charles first wants to sign Berlin’s Golden Book and meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). He had not attended the state banquet the night before – in contrast to his predecessor Angela Merkel (CDU). An appointment at a weekly market in Berlin is also on the agenda. After the speech in the Bundestag, the state guest visited the arrival center for Ukrainian refugees at the former Tegel Airport together with Steinmeier. This ends the visit to the capital.
In the late afternoon, the King and Federal President make a detour to Brandenburg, which takes them to Finowfurt, north-east of Berlin. There they meet soldiers from a German-British engineer battalion from Minden. Not only is a conversation with Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke planned – there should also be action: the soldiers are assembling the last parts of a floating bridge over the Havel-Oder waterway, and the British king is supposed to climb it.
Visit to Brodowin eco-village
Charles then drives to the eco-village of Brodowin, where he would like to find out more about how a particular type of cheese is made. Charles has been committed to biodynamic agriculture (demeter) for decades. As early as the 1980s, he switched to organic farming on his Highgrove estate in Gloucestershire.
In his after-dinner speech at the state banquet, the monarch said he had learned a lot about biodynamic agriculture during his previous visits to Germany. He also owes the significant improvements in his own farms and soils to German expertise.
Camilla and Büdenbender want to visit a social project in Berlin-Neukölln and the Komische Oper in Berlin-Mitte at the same time.
It is Charles’ first trip abroad in his new role as king, which he assumed after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September. Politically, the visit is significant because three years after Britain’s exit from the EU, a new chapter in Britain’s relations with Europe and Germany is set to begin.
