Prince Charles is set to urge the UK and Germany to “reaffirm our bond for the years ahead” in a speech the day after spending his 72nd birthday in Berlin.
The countries are embarking on a “new chapter in our long history”, the Prince of Wales is expected to say during a ceremony for Germany’s National Day of Mourning.
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall flew to Berlin on Saturday as the heir to the throne marked his 72nd birthday, receiving a cake on the flight.
The couple have gone to Germany to mark its National Day of Mourning, which Clarence House said will focus on British-German relations this year, as it remembers “all victims of war and tyranny”.
Charles and Camilla are to attend a wreath-laying ceremony, as well as the main remembrance ceremony at the German parliament, where Prince Charles is expected to make a speech urging the UK and Germany to “stand alongside eachother” to protect the future for the next generations.
He is expected to say: “The challenges to that future are manifest – whether from this dreadful pandemic which threatens not just our public health but our prosperity and security; or from the existential threat to our planet, and our way of life, from climate change and catastrophic biodiversity loss.
“These crises demand that we act together, and the partnership between the United Kingdom and Germany offers such a vital opportunity in this regard. We are heavily invested in each other’s futures, such that our national interests, whilst distinct, will always be entwined.
The Prince of Wales will add: “As our countries begin this new chapter in our long history, let us reaffirm our bond for the years ahead.”
“Let us remember all victims of war, tyranny and persecution; those who laid down their lives for the freedoms we cherish, and those who struggle for these freedoms to this day,” Prince Charles is expected to tell the Bundestag.
“They inspire us to strive for a better tomorrow – let us make this our common cause.”
Clarence House announced the trip to Germany earlier in the week, saying the couple had been invited by the German president.
Charles and Camilla will travel to the president’s official residence in Berlin on Sunday, for talks with Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Budenbender.
They will then attend a wreath-laying ceremony at Neue Wache, which is the home to the Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Victims of War and Tyranny, before the Central Remembrance Ceremony at the Bundestag – where they will make history as the first members of the British monarch to attend this event.
Announcing the couple’s visit, Clarence House said: “The National Day of Mourning will this year focus on the German-British friendship, which has grown in the 75 years since the end of the Second World War.
“The event pays tribute to the Allied commitment to the liberation from Nazi occupation and to the reconstruction, re-democratisation and subsequent reunification of Germany. It remembers all victims of war and tyranny.”
Additional reporting by Press Association
