The King will give a speech to the Senate during his visit at the end of March, and a state banquet is provided for at the Palace of Versailles.
MO12345lemonde with AFP
King Charles III and his wife Camilla will go to France and then to Germany from March 26 to 31 for their first state visits, to “celebrate the relationship” between the United Kingdom and these two countries, announced Friday Buckingham Palace. This trip, dominated by environmental issues, has been their first abroad since Charles, 74 years old, became king on September 8. As a crown prince, he has already made thirty-four official visits to France and twenty-eight in Germany.
“This visit will celebrate the relationship of Great Britain with France and Germany, marking our stories, our culture and our common values,” said Buckingham Palace in a press release. “It will also give an opportunity to turn to the future and demonstrate the many ways in which the United Kingdom works in partnership with France and Germany,” continued the palace, notably quoting the fight against global warming and The answer to the conflict in Ukraine.
Souvenir ceremony
Charles III, who speaks French, and Camilla will be in France from March 26 to 29. In Paris, they will participate with President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, in a ceremony of memory at the Arc de Triomphe. The king will give a speech to the Senate. A state banquet is planned in their honor at the Palace of Versailles on March 27. On March 28, Charles and Camilla will go to Bordeaux, in the Southwest. The king will go to areas devastated by fires last summer and visit a organic vineyard.
“This state visit, the first of the sovereign before its coronation, constitutes an honor done to France and illustrates the depth of the historical links which unite our two countries”, underlined the Elysée. “It also symbolizes the relationship of friendship and confidence between the President of the Republic and His Majesty the King, who have in the past collaborated in the protection of biodiversity and the fight against global warming,” he added .
In Germany, from March 29 to 31, the royal couple will go to Berlin and then to Hamburg. Charles III will give a speech to the Bundestag, the German Federal Parliament. He will meet recently arrived from Ukraine. In Hamburg, the king, passionate about sustainable development, will discuss green technologies.
Elizabeth II, Francophone and Francophile
The first state visits to Charles III will take place a few weeks before his coronation, on May 6, at the Westminster Abbey. They will take place a few days after the first visit to France of the British government head of government, Rishi Sunak, March 10.
The last visit to France of Charles, as a crown prince, dates back to 2019: he attended a mass at the Bayeux cathedral to mark the 75
Elizabeth II, his mother, who was French -speaking and Francophile, made five state visits in France during her reign, in addition to many private visits. The most striking visit to the monarch in Germany dates back to 1965, perceived as the moment which sealed the reconciliation between the two countries after the Second World War.