OUR King Charles will go to France And Germany during his first official visits after he succeeded his mother, Queen Elizabeth, as her monarch. Britannia last September, Buckingham Palace announced today.

Charles will deliver the British monarch’s first speeches to the parliaments of two European neighbors in a five-day visit starting March 26. His royal wife Camilla will accompany him on the journey.

“The visit will mark the UK’s relationship with France and Germany by highlighting our shared history, culture and values,” a Buckingham Palace spokesman said. “It’s also an opportunity to look into the future and show how our countries work together.”

While his mother went on an extended tour after her coronation in 1952, visiting Australia, New Zealand and the kingdoms where she was head of state, Charles will make a short trip across the English Channel at the behest of a government eager to improve relations. with EE in the Brexit era.

The presidents of France and Germany have extended invitations to Charles since he ascended the throne, according to a palace source.

During his stay in France, Charles will attend a state dinner hosted in his honor by President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles and a memorial service at the Arc de Triomphe.

Macron paid tribute to Elizabeth after her death in a message to Britain, saying she would be “forever with us”. “For you, she was your queen. For us, she was a queen,” he said.

Charles will address senators and members of the National Assembly in the French Senate who will travel to Bordeaux to see the aftermath of last summer’s fires and tour an organic vineyard as part of King Charles’ years-long campaign to protect the environment.

Relations between Britain and France deteriorated

Relations between London and Paris have been strained since Brexit in 2016 and longstanding disputes over fishing rights and migrants traveling in small boats from France to the UK across the English Channel.

Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss even stated that it had not yet been decided whether Macron was a friend of the UK before later claiming that he was.

However, the current prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has been pushing for renewed ties since replacing Trouss as prime minister last October with an agreement to step up efforts to combat illegal immigration, as well as an agreement with the EU to resolve the bitter controversy over Brexit. trade to and from Northern Ireland.

He will meet Macron at a bilateral summit in March.

In Germany, the British monarch and his wife will be greeted at the Brandenburg Gate, the first time a visiting head of state has received an official reception there.

Charles will also address the German parliament and meet with refugees recently arrived from Ukraine. The trip will include a visit to Hamburg, where Charles and Camilla will visit the Saint Nicholas Memorial, the ruins of a church destroyed during the Allied bombardment of the city during World War II.

While the visit marks Charles’s 35th trip to France and 29th trip to Germany, the new king has a long way to go to overcome the estimated 1,661,668 km his mother covered during her 70-year reign. , which is a record number.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters, AFP.}