King Charles III landed on Wednesday. on his first state visit abroad as a monarch with the Queen in Germany.
They arrived at Berlin Brandenburg Airport on Wednesday afternoon to begin their three-day visit.
The trip was due to start in France on Sunday, but the first leg was canceled amid strikes and civil unrest in the country over President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform.
The French leader on Friday said his government did not have "common sense" to continue the protests, before suggesting the visit should be postponed until early summer.
During the visit, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Budenbender will walk the red carpet of the visiting monarch. They meet Charles and Camilla with full military honors at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Later, the royal couple will be guests of honor at a state reception in Bellevue Palace, the official residence of the Federal President.
"I would like to tell him and of course all Britons that we want close and friendly relations with Great Britain in Germany and Europe even after Brexit," said Steinmeier in a video message before the visit.
Crowds, some carrying flags or modified Burger King crowns, gathered outside the capital's Brandenburg Gate hours before the King's arrival.
© Courtesy of CNN From left: the German flag, the Union Jack and the European Union flag in front of the Brandenburg Gate before King Karl's visit to Germany. -Markus Schreiber / Op
Charles will address the Bundestag on Thursday. Later he will meet some Ukrainian refugees who have been hiding in their homeland from the Russian occupation in Germany.
The next day, the royal couple will travel to Hamburg, where they will visit the St. Nicholas Memorial Church, which was badly damaged by Allied bombing during World War II. There the king and the federal president will lay a wreath as part of a short memorial service.
Despite the start delay, the objectives of the journey remain the same. The royal family, traveling on behalf of the British government and at the invitation of the German President, hope to renew and strengthen ties after Britain leaves the European Union.
“It is also an opportunity to look to the future and the many ways our countries can work together to tackle climate change; reaction to the conflict in Ukraine; attracting business and investment opportunities or sharing the best of our arts and culture," Buckingham Palace said in a statement announcing the state visit earlier this month.
Charles visited Germany for the last time as Prince of Wales in 2020 to mark the national day of mourning for the victims of the war.
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