ZAt the end of the first day of their state visit to Germany, the British King Charles III. and his wife Camilla arrived at Bellevue Palace on Wednesday evening. There was a parade and then a state banquet with around 130 guests on the program.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier received the royal couple on the stairs of his official residence in Berlin’s Tiergarten. Numerous high-ranking guests from politics and society had arrived beforehand – such as former Federal Presidents Horst Köhler and Joachim Gauck and former Chancellor Angela Merkel. Campino, frontman of the band Tote Hosen, is also there. Like the other gentlemen, he appeared in tails.
For Charles, the three-day visit to Germany is the first trip abroad in his new role as king, which he assumed after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September. He had arrived in Berlin with Camilla on Wednesday afternoon. Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender will accompany the royal couple through their program in Berlin, Brandenburg and Hamburg until Friday.
Former Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives at Bellevue Palace
Source: AP/Markus Schreiber
Punk in tails: the king welcomes Campino
Quelle: Getty Images/Andreas Rentz
Former Federal President Joachim Gauck and his partner Daniela Schadt
Source: AFP/RONNY HARTMANN
For a long time, the four-course menu at the state banquet was guarded like a state secret. In the evening, the order of the menu became known. The guests were first served pickled carp and Erfurt watercress, then Heck beef broth, pasture chicken and tree fungus, and finally prunes, East Frisian black tea and shortbread.
The wine accompaniment consisted of a Riesling Spätlese from the Rheingau, a Pinot Noir from Rheinhessen and a liqueur wine from the Ahr. Of course there was also a non-alcoholic alternative.
Reception with military honors at the Brandenburg Gate
The first stop after landing was the Brandenburg Gate. There the king was officially received by Steinmeier with military honors at the beginning of his state visit. For the first time, the traditional ritual with a military formation of honor took place at the Brandenburg Gate – the usual place is otherwise at Bellevue Palace. The two heads of state heard the anthems of both countries together and walked past the soldiers.
King Charles III in front of the Brandenburg Gate
Credit: AFP/ADRIAN DENNIS
Charles and Camilla were received by Federal President Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender
Source: dpa/Kay Nietfeld
Onlookers have been waiting since morning at the Brandenburg Gate for their chance to see the royals up close. The first were already in front of the barriers at Pariser Platz before 10 a.m. A few hundred were allowed onto the cordoned-off area. The overall security effort is enormous. On Wednesday, 900 police officers and 20 sniffer dogs are said to be on duty in Berlin.
Steinmeier thanked Charles for making his first-ever foreign trip as Britain’s new king to Germany. This is “a great personal gesture and at the same time an important sign for Anglo-German relations,” he said. The Federal President recalled that on March 29, 2017, then British Prime Minister Theresa May submitted Britain’s request to leave the EU. “Today, exactly six years to the day since Great Britain began its exit from the European Union, we are starting a new chapter. Together, as friends and partners, we are now looking ahead,” said Steinmeier. The Office of the Federal President had previously said that the “tangles of separation” were now being left behind.
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.
The special role of Germany after Brexit
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said WORLD: “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, to demonstrate our real commitment to a long-lasting, meaningful friendship with Germany and 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.
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