The carambola of fate has wanted – that is, the forced suspension of the visit to France – that the first trip abroad of Carlos III as king will have as destination the last country that welcomed his mother on a state visit such as the which he begins this Wednesday: Germany. It was 2015 when an elderly but still full of faculties Elizabeth II starred in her fifth stop in Berlin dressed in the highest diplomatic rank that she governs in the society of nations. By then, the bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and Germany was already fully normalized, something to which each of the visits that the monarch had made to the country of her ancestors had contributed precisely, especially the historic one in 1965 that served decisively to heal wounds and turn the page on decades of deep disagreements and the most stark confrontations in the two great world wars.
Today Carlos III will arrive in Berlin in a very different historical context. And for the authorities of the two countries, it is a magnificent opportunity to strengthen the well-established bilateral friendship, in a relationship that is still taking shape, marked on the one hand by the British abandonment of the community club and, on the other, by the need to intensify collaboration in matters such as security and defense. All at a time when the Old Continent is once again facing the specters of security and peace threatened by the Russian challenge that Ukraine today has as a destabilization board.
For King Charles, this three-day visit seems especially sweet. The two delegations have made an effort so that the agenda is marked by the great passion of the monarch: environmentalism and the fight against climate change. Many of the events planned both in Berlin and in Hamburg will be oriented, in this line, to the claim of green energies, to value the latest advances in the industry for the reduction of C02 and the support of policies that alleviate the environmental emergency. As the Prince of Wales, eternal heir to a throne that he seemed never to occupy, Elizabeth II’s son was often misunderstood in his role as an environmental activist. In this time, however, ended up giving him the reason.
But Carlos III, in addition, will enjoy the special hospitality of the German leadership. Thus, he will become the first head of state received in the welcome ceremony with the highest military honors in a setting as emblematic as the Brandenburg Gate – the usual thing is that the act takes place in the Bellevue Palace, the president’s residence of the Republic-. And this Thursday he will also be the first British sovereign to deliver a speech before the Bundestag.
Elizabeth II was about to address the federal Chamber in 1992. But, as an obvious example of how slow and complex it was for London and Berlin to call each other without misgivings, it seems that the then chancellor Helmut Kohl raised all kinds of objections to it being granted such an honor to the monarch because of the sting still caused by the sticks in the wheels that the United Kingdom had put years before before the German reunification. Carlos would, as heir, in 2020.
However, Elizabeth II always enjoyed high popularity in the country from which the entire dynasty originates. When he set foot for a few hours in West Berlin in May 1965, more than a million Germans packed the streets through which his journey passed, in a show of curiosity and affection only comparable to the one he had in the same city, still divided. US President John F. Kennedy.
For decades, every time the English queen traveled to Germany, the media stirred up the debate about whether she should apologize for the British role in the bombing of some cities in the throes of World War II. There was never such an apology from the Buckingham tenant, who for her part would never forget how the popularity of her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, skyrocketed over her decision to have the entire family remain in England while they were removed. produced the sustained bombing raids of the Nazi regime on the United Kingdom. What did occur with each trip of Elizabeth II to democratic and Europeanist Germany was a profusion of reconciliation gestures between the two peoples of enormous symbolic value. Something that continues to this day. Carlos III and his wife, Camila, will visit St. Nikolai Memorial, in Hamburg, a church bombed by the Allies.
The anecdotal always adds great attention in visits with such pomp. And in this case there is enormous interest in finding out what will be the gift that the Presidency of the Republic will present to its illustrious guests. Because, according to Der Spiegel, it has now become known that high-ranking German officials found what they spent on the two magnificent horses they gave to Elizabeth II on her 1978 visit to be an exaggerated expense. Walter Scheel seems to have accepted that it was well worth scratching his pocket if that was how he satisfied the most emblematic woman in the world.
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