Visiting Germany, Charles III and his wife went to a Berlin market on Thursday to meet traders. A closeness that challenges the safety of the royal couple.
Less distance, more contact. After the postponement of his first planned state visit to France, Charles III traveled to Germany, where he spoke to German deputies in Berlin, before heading to a market in the capital to meet the German citizens and traders. A visit during which the royal couple was warm and tactile, defying their security services.
“I shook his hand”
“I shook his hand”, testifies a resident who would never have imagined this gesture with Elizabeth II. “I think it would never have gone around the market, maybe it’s a question of generation”.
Same impression for traders who had the opportunity to chat with the royal couple. “It was a fairly short but very personal moment, we shook hands, he tasted cheese”, says a cheese maker. “He was very attentive, he thanked me very much for the bouquet, really nice”, rejoices a florist.
“It’s a huge challenge”
But this displayed spontaneity is a real challenge for the organizers responsible for the king’s security.
“Everything really has to be redesigned down to the smallest detail, and moving to a market is a huge challenge for us because we can’t predict everything to the second,” explains Bianka Gienz, protocol officer at the chancellery.
A total of 900 police officers were mobilized on Wednesday, 1,100 on Thursday, to ensure the safety of the king and queen consort. In front of their hotel, 40 agents constantly monitor the surroundings of the building and the curious people who crowd behind the barriers from morning to evening.
For the last day of his visit to Germany this Friday, Charles III will travel to Hamburg with the German president to commemorate the German victims of the murderous raids committed by the allies in this city in 1943.
