King prepares to host first state visit by a German president in 27 years
The King and Queen will this week host the German president for a state visit, with the format reverting to normal after royal elements of Donald Trump’s stay were restricted to the Windsor estate.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife, former judge Elke Budenbender, will be formally welcomed by Charles and Camilla on an open air royal dais in the centre of the Berkshire town, before enjoying a carriage ride through the streets, past the crowds, to the castle.
The Prince and Princess of Wales will play a key role by greeting Mr Steinmeier and Ms Budenbender at Heathrow Airport and accompanying them to Windsor on Wednesday morning at the start of their three-day stay.
Mr Steinmeier will go on to receive a ceremonial welcome in the castle quadrangle, attended by the King, Camilla, William and Kate, and be feted with a grand state banquet in the historic royal residence’s St George’s Hall on Wednesday evening.
Before a formal farewell, they will be shown the State Sleigh, which was designed by Queen Victoria’s German-born husband Prince Albert and recorded in Victoria’s diary in 1845.
The King, who has German ancestry on both sides of his family, speaks German well.
Unusually, the event marks the third incoming state visit hosted by the monarch this year – with Charles also welcoming French President Emmanuel Macron in July.
The King is still undergoing treatment for cancer but showing no let-up in his busy schedule.
Mr Steinmeier’s state visit is the first by a German leader in 27 years. He will visit Downing Street for talks with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday afternoon and join a meeting of UK and German business leaders.
The UK and Germany signed a new partnership, known as the Kensington Treaty, in July, with Sir Keir pledging the two countries would “work ever more closely”.
The agreement included freeing up school exchange visits and passport e-gates, the setting up of a taskforce to explore a direct train link between the UK and Germany, and a commitment to closer co-operation on trade, security and defence.
Germany is in the process of strengthening its efforts to tackle illegal migration by introducing a new law to criminalise gangs who supply and store small boats for use in crossings to the UK.
The German president and his wife will pay a poignant visit on Friday with the Duke of Kent to lay a wreath at the ruins of the old Coventry Cathedral, which was bombed by the Germans during the Second World War.
This year marks the 85th anniversary of the Coventry Blitz in November 1940, in which 568 people were killed and 4,300 homes destroyed, along with the Cathedral Church of St Michael.
Mr Steinmeier and Ms Budenbender will tour the new cathedral, which was completed in 1962, and join a prayer service highlighting the ministry’s commitment to peace and reconciliation.
Coventry is twinned with the German cities of Kiel and Dresden in recognition of the shared experience of devasting bombings during the conflict.
Ms Budenbender will also visit Judith Kerr Primary School, in south-east London, on Wednesday to meet pupils and celebrate the school’s connection to its namesake, the German-born British author and illustrator who wrote the much-loved children’s book The Tiger Who Came to Tea.
The last incoming German state visit took place in 1998 when Elizabeth II hosted president Roman Herzog at Windsor Castle.