British King Charles III arrives in Germany for first overseas visit
Mar 29, 2023
London [UK], March 29 : British King Charles III with the Queen Consort, on Wednesday, arrived in Germany after the first part of the France visit was postponed, CNN reported.
Landing at Berlin Brandenburg Airport on Wednesday afternoon (local time), the King was welcomed with a gun salute and two military jets carried out a flypast.
On their arrival at Pariser Platz, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife, Elke Budenbender, rolled out the red carpet and greeted them with a full ceremonial welcome.
Notably, this is the first overseas visit of King Charles III since he assumed office.
It's the first time a head of state has been officially welcomed at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate rather than at Schloss Bellevue, the official residence of the German president. As the royals stepped out of the car, the crowd cheered, with supporters eagerly waving German and Union Jack flags above their heads, according to CNN.
The national anthems of both nations played, after which the King, accompanied by the president, inspected the honour guard before delighting crowds by making their way over to greet members of the public.
There was a noticeable security presence in central Berlin, with around 900 police officers deployed Wednesday, according to CNN's German affiliate n-tv.
Crowds gathered at Brandenburg Gate were made up of the general public, school groups, members of the Royal British Legion, as well as British Embassy employees and their families.
The royal couple will later be guests of honour at a state banquet at the presidential palace.
Earlier, his French visit was postponed amid the mass protest against the unpopular pension reforms, the French president's office has said.
"Given yesterday's announcement of a new national day of action against pension reform on Tuesday, March 28 in France, the visit of King Charles III, initially scheduled for March 26 to 29 in our country, will be postponed," the statement read.
"This decision was taken by the French and British governments, after a telephone exchange between the President of the Republic and the King this morning, in order to be able to welcome His Majesty King Charles III under conditions which correspond to our relationship of friendship. This State visit will be rescheduled as soon as possible," the statement added.
