ROYALS IN BERLIN: Great solidarity - King Charles and Camilla visit Germany Gun salutes at the airport, "God Save the King" at the Brandenburg Gate: British King Charles III and his wife Camilla begin their three-day state visit to Germany this Wednesday afternoon. It is the new king's first trip abroad, also intended as a new beginning three years after Brexit. For some citizens of Berlin, Brandenburg and Hamburg, it is a chance to see the royals up close. This should be possible when the state guests are greeted with military honors. The ceremony with guard of honor and national anthems is usual, but the location is a first: for the first time ever, it will take place for a state guest at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Anyone who wants to see Charles and Camilla there together with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender must be there hours in advance. The overall security effort is enormous. On Wednesday, 900 police officers and 20 sniffer dogs will be deployed in Berlin. Steinmeier has also planned a reception for Wednesday afternoon at Bellevue Palace with experts on energy transition and sustainability - a topic of particular interest to Charles for decades. In the evening, the Federal President will host a state banquet with around 130 guests, the men in tailcoats, the women in long dresses. The King is said to want to give his speech partly in German. Germany and Great Britain are close partners, the royals are traditionally popular here and experienced a wave of sympathy after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September last year. Charles himself knows Germany well. He has already been here around 40 times. The fact that he is now coming in his new role as king before his coronation on May 6 is nevertheless seen as an important signal. Exactly six years ago, on March 29, 2017, the British government officially announced its exit from the EU, and Brexit was completed on January 31, 2020. Now the "turmoil of separation" is behind us and we are looking forward together, said the Federal President's Office. There is talk of a "new chapter" in relations. British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told broadcaster Welt: "We share so many values ​​and I am very, very happy that this will be a very public opportunity for Britain to demonstrate, through His Majesty's visit, our real commitment to a long-standing, meaningful friendship with Germany and the German people." Charles' very first trip abroad was actually supposed to take him to France, but this was postponed due to protests against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform. So Berlin is the first stop. Until Friday, Steinmeier and Büdenbender will accompany their guests Charles and Camilla through a dense program that, according to the Federal President's Office, represents the past, present and future of bilateral relations. On Thursday, Charles will, among other things, give a speech in the Bundestag and make a detour to a German-British battalion and an eco-village in Brandenburg. On Friday, the monarch and his wife will travel with Steinmeier and Büdenbender on the ICE to Hamburg. There they visit, among other things, the memorial "Kindertransport - the last farewell" and the ruins of the St. Nikolai Church, which was destroyed in the Second World War. #kingcharles #camilla #adlon Subscribe to the WELT YouTube Channel http://bit.ly/WeltVideoTVabo WELT DOKUS Channel / weltdoku WELT Podcast Channel / weltpodcast Short news on WELT Netzreporter Channel / dienetzreporter The WELT news livestream http://bit.ly/2fwuMPg The top news on WELT.de http://bit.ly/2rQQD9Q The media library on WELT.de http://bit.ly/2Iydxv8 WELT news channel on Instagram https://bit.ly/IGWELTTV WELT on Instagram http://bit.ly/2X1M7Hk On our own behalf: Due to the high volume of irrelevant and offensive posts, we are currently unable to accept any more comments. Thank you for your understanding - the WELT team Video 2023 created