MAKING THEIR FIRST HISTORIC STATE VISIT THE KING AND QUEEN CONSORT PUT ON A DAZZLING DISPLAY IN GERMANY
With only one month to go until his coronation on 6 May, King Charles III was accompanied by his wife the Queen Consort, as they flew into Germany for their first state visit since taking the throne. HELLO! joined Their Majesties on their three-day tour, from the Brandenburg Gate to a glittering state dinner to a poignant church visit in Hamburg
DAY ONE A WARM WELCOME IN BERLIN
Making history on their first overseas state visit, the King and the Queen Consort received a rapturous welcome to Germany as thousands turned out to greet the royal visitors.
The couple had been due to travel first to France; however, civil unrest over proposed pension reforms forced a postponement of the three-day visit to Paris and Bordeaux.
But Germany more than rolled out the red carpet for Their Majesties, beginning in the air as their flight on the RAF Voyager was escorted into Berlin by German Typhoon fighter jets.
MILITARY SALUTE
Arriving at Berlin-Brandenburg Government Airport, they received a 21-gun salute and a guard of honour, while two military jets performed a flypast.
The Queen Consort, in a turquoise Bruce Oldfield dress and coat with a matching Philip Treacy hat, wore a brooch that had belonged to the Queen, who had received it from Queen Mary on her confirmation in 1942.
The royal convoy swept into the centre of Berlin, where the King become the first foreign head of state since the Second World War to be welcomed with full ceremonial and military honours at the city’s Brandenburg Gate.
Arriving in the state Bentley, Their Majesties were met with full pomp and ceremony by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife, First Lady Elke Büdenbender.
The two couples stood on a dais for the national anthems and the raising of each country’s flag before the King joined the President to inspect another guard of honour.
MEETING THE PEOPLE
A crowd of around 1,500 people lined the sides of the road and the royal couple split up to shake hands with and chat to as many of the well-wishers as possible.
When a student said she had recently been to London, the King said: “Oh, marvellous! You found your way around? Oh, you went to Buckingham Palace?”
Another person shouted: “Welcome to Germany, Your Majesty,” and the King beamed broadly, but he politely declined the offer of a paper crown from Burger King from one man.
The royal couple then travelled to Schloss Bellevue, President Steinmeier’s official residence in Berlin’s Tiergarten district, where they signed the visitors’ book.
After that ceremony, the Ki
