British Royals in Berlin: Prince Charles gives a speech in German – Royals

At the invitation of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles (72), came to Berlin this weekend and took his wife, Duchess Camilla (73) with him.

On Sunday afternoon, Prince Charles gave a speech in the Bundestag. To the surprise of many, even in German!

“Crises call us to act together. And the partnership between the UK and Germany offers us an important opportunity in this regard, ”said the heir to the British throne, who gave his speech alternately in English and German.

Camilla was in the audience in the hall. She listened closely to her husband as the 72-year-old stressed the importance of German-British friendship beyond Brexit.

He is “firmly convinced that the core ties between us will remain strong,” he said in his commemoration speech on the day of the commemoration in the plenary chamber of the Bundestag. “We will always be friends, partners and allies”.

These challenges are obvious, the Prince of Wales said. Especially in this day and age. He talked about how to deal with the corona pandemic and the “existential threat” posed by climate change.

It was the first time that a member of the royal family attended the central memorial service in the capital that Sunday.

75 years after the end of World War II, the focus is on German-British relations, which have gone from hostility in war to a solid friendship.

On Saturday, Charles landed at BER

On Saturday, Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla landed at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), where they were met by British Ambassador Jill Gallard.

On Sunday morning, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier received the British royals at Bellevue Palace.

“We Germans are deeply grateful to Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla for this extraordinary gesture of reconciliation and solidarity in extraordinary times,” Steinmeier said Sunday after a conversation with Prince Charles and Camilla at Palazzo Bellevue, the official residence of the Federal President.

“We are united in the desire and firm intention to maintain and strengthen the good neighborhood and close cooperation between the UK and Germany in the future,” said Steinmeier.

Subsequently, the federal president, together with the prince and representatives of the constitutional bodies, took part in the ceremony of laying the crowns on the day of national mourning at the Neue Wache in Berlin-Mitte. In the afternoon, Charles gave his speech to the Bundestag.

Charles and Camilla last visited Germany in May 2019. Since 1962, Charles has been to West Germany more than thirty times, both officially and privately.