Berlin.
Even before the coronation, the monarch comes to visit – with a clear mission: He is to help polish Britain’s battered reputation.
- King Charles and Camilla have landed in Berlin
- The royal couple is traveling in Germany for three days
- The political background
Actually, the British King Charles III. be in France in the first half of the week. This trip is canceled due to the violent pension protests in the neighboring country. However, the monarch is coming to Germany this Wednesday as planned. Together with his wife Camilla he will visit Berlin, Brandenburg and Hamburg up to and including Friday.
As always with such visits, it will be very solemn and pompous. But that’s not all: Although British monarchs have no direct power, Charles’ visit to Germany is highly political. The plan is nothing less than a celebratory restart in German-British relations, which had suffered badly in the wake of Brexit. An overview.
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Time of visit:
Charles has been the UK’s head of state since September 8, 2022. His mother, Queen Elizabeth II, died that day. In his own country, Charles was already traveling a lot in his new role. But he has not yet gone abroad. The fact that his first trip abroad as king will take him to mainland Europe and not to a Commonwealth country is a special gesture to our European partners.
Since the France part of the trip has been postponed, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will now receive the monarch on behalf of all Europeans, so to speak. Steinmeier says: “I appreciate this state visit all the more because the king has decided to come to Germany before his coronation.” Charles’ coronation is planned for May 6th. The visit to Germany begins on March 29 – exactly six years to the day after Great Britain applied to leave the European Union.
The political context:
Since January 31, 2020 that is United Kingdom no longer a member of the EU. Since then, relations with European partners have been extremely bad: governments in Great Britain changed in quick succession. Brexit, the pandemic and inflation plunged the country into a deep crisis. Until recently, the British were at odds with the European Union over the status of the British province of Northern Ireland in the EU internal market. Both sides were only able to settle this conflict at the end of February with the so-called Windsor Protocol.
The Berlin political scientist and Great Britain expert Roderick Parkes says that the credibility of British politics in Europe has suffered a lot in recent years – and the incumbent government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak be aware of that. In this situation, Charles’ state visit is now being specifically arranged. Actually, Sunak could only send a positive signal through the king, says the expert at the German Society for Foreign Relations. “It’s only possible through these channels.”
Charles, who has close ties to Germany, voluntarily allows the government to help repair relations with the Europeans. “This might be the last chance,” Parkes suspects. You have to know that British monarchs never travel abroad of your own accord – but always after advice and consultation with the government. The crown is an important British instrument „Soft Power“: London uses the charisma and worldwide popularity of the royal family to achieve foreign policy goals.
The reception of the guest:
Of course, Charles does not come as a supplicant. Rather, the Germans and the Europeans as a whole also have an overwhelming interest in the relationship with NATO partner Great Britain normalizing and the country overcoming its crisis as quickly as possible. Against the background of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the west Don’t afford conflicts in your own camp. Great Britain and Germany are the most important supporters of the Ukrainians after the USA.
The program of the royal visit was developed in close coordination between the German and British authorities. Right at the beginning lets Deutschland the monarch will receive a special honor: After landing at Berlin Airport, Federal President Steinmeier will receive the guest with military honors on Wednesday – and not, as is usual, at his official residence, Bellevue Palace in Berlin. But on the Pariser Platz at the Brandenburg Gate. That has never happened before.
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The Brandenburg Gate is not only a landmark of the Capital city, but also a symbol for the unity of Germany and Europe. With the reception at the historic site, a friendly nation is honored and reminded of the constructive role that Great Britain played at German reunification. West of the gate once began the British sector of Berlin. From the gate you can see the Reichstag building, the seat of the German Bundestag. This building also connects Germans and Britons: the British star architect Norman Foster rebuilt it in the 1990s on behalf of the federal government and provided it with the characteristic glass dome.
The program of the visit:
The various stations of the journey are intended to draw a line from the past of German-British relations to the present and the future. Also planned are a meeting between the king and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and a speech by the monarch German Bundestag. The three social democratic heads of government of the participating federal states – Franziska Giffey (Berlin), Dietmar Woidke (Brandenburg) and Peter Tschentscher (Hamburg) – will also meet with Charles.
The monarch has been a committed environmental and climate protectionist for decades. The fight for the preservation of the natural basis of life is an important future issue for Germany and Great Britain. On Wednesday afternoon there will be a reception for civil society actors from this area at Bellevue Palace. On Thursday, Charles will visit a farmers’ market in the capital in the morning and the eco-village of Brodowin in Brandenburg in the afternoon. On Friday, the topic of sustainability and green energies will be discussed in the port of Hamburg.
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A visit to the arrival center for Ukrainian refugees in Berlin-Tegel and a visit to the German-British Engineer Bridge Battalion 130 in Finowfurt in Brandenburg show the present bilateral relations. Both are scheduled for Thursday.
The past is on Friday in Hamburg: Charles will be there after his arrival on Dammtor station Lay flowers at the Kindertransport memorial. Around 10,000 Jewish children from Germany found shelter in Great Britain in the late 1930s and thus escaped the Nazi gas chambers. A wreath-laying ceremony at the St. Nikolai memorial, the central memorial site in the Hanseatic city for the victims of war and tyranny, is also planned.
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