King Charles III has arrived to Romania on Friday, less than a month after his coronation, being the first visit that a British monarch pays to our country. The private visit of King Charles III to Romania would last five days.
King Charles was welcomed by President Klaus Iohannis at Cotroceni on Friday at 15.30, according to the Presidential Administration agenda.
“I have always felt at home in Romania”, King Charles said in a speech that began in Romanian, in which he inserted verses from Mihai Eminescu.
“I cannot describe the pleasure I have visiting Romania once again. Thank you, Mr. President, for your kind words and your immense generosity in organizing this reception. 25 years have passed since my first visit to this remarkable country. When I came here and even before I felt a deep connection with Romania. The King of Romania was a cousin of the King of Great Britain, and Queen Mary was a descendant of the British Royal Family, and my father was a cousin of King Michael, and they shared childhood memories here. I have always felt at home in Romania. In all these years I had the joy of being able to travel all over the country and met Romanians from all fields. We have thus had the opportunity to witness first-hand the extraordinary development that has taken place and which is a testament to your energy, innovation and resilience,” said the King.
The king also added that “he was impressed by the representatives of the young generation, who face the challenges of the modern world, in all fields” and that “he was inspired by the people he met”. “I was impressed by the representatives of the young generation, who face the challenges of the modern world, in all fields. I was inspired by the people I met who work tirelessly for others. There are efforts to support young people. Since the 90s I have become their friend and I am still a friend of the Monuments Association, which trains architects and those active in the conservation of monuments. It is impressive to see how many volunteers work daily, year after year, with such dedication for the historical monuments, to help preserve Romania’s diverse architecture. I came to love Romania, culture and art, heritage, history, landscapes and biodiversity. Country of glory, country of longing! Romania has preserved its forests, rural landscapes and models of sustainable agriculture. Furthermore, there are many species here that have disappeared from other areas of Europe and the world. The more precious this country becomes, but above all I value my friends from Romania. I am very grateful for the many people who are also here in the room, who have supported me in projects, which are doing good. I have seen particularly generous support for friends in Ukraine. I came to Romania for so many years because I felt a closeness to the Romanian people for the sufferings following the Second World War. More and more British people come to Romania every year and millions of Romanians are an important part of life in Great Britain. Our bonds of friendship are stronger,” said King Charles III.
“Welcome back to Romania, a country for which over time you have developed a special affection!” Romanian President Klaus Iohannis told the British sovereign.
“We are honored that the first visit abroad since the coronation of Your Majesty takes place in our country. For Romanians, this is an extremely important message, that the ties with these places remain just as close even after assuming the new responsibilities.On behalf of all Romanians, I convey to you our appreciation and gratitude for the genuine involvement in protecting and celebrating some values that belong to the very national identity: nature, the rural landscape of our country, but also the rich cultural heritage,” Iohannis further stated.
“We are celebrating 20 years since the launch of the Bilateral Strategic Partnership, the occasion on which the renewed Joint Declaration was signed, paving the way for intensified cooperation between our countries. The military and security dimension, which is an essential pillar of the Strategic Partnership, is all the more relevant in the current geopolitical context.I am happy to highlight today the special role of the Romanian community in Great Britain, which numbers over 1.2 million people, in the development of Romanian-British ties. And to illustrate how deep the ties between us are, ties not only affective, but also through the prism of the roots of the Royal Family, I remember the words of a villager who, speaking of the honor of having met Your Majesty, in his village, he said he didn’t need any translation, that’s how strong these connections are.
Thank you for being and still being a great friend of Romania! We look with hope to the future, convinced that these ties will become stronger and that the relations between our states will continue to develop,” the Romanian head of state added.
Next stop – Viscri
After that, King Charles will go to Viscri, Transylvania, where he has a property. According to some sources, King Charles III will not be accompanied by Queen Camilla, his wife.
The British Ambassador to Bucharest, Andrew Noble, has recently told Agerpres that the visit that King Charles III will make to Romania is of a private nature, adding that the monarch will meet with President Klaus Iohannis, as a gesture of courtesy.
“It is 25 years since our king visited Romania for the first time, in 1998, and it will be the first time that a British monarch visits Romania, but this time it will be a private visit, like most of the visits the one who was then the Prince of Wales had them in Romania. We understand what a private visit means: as every time, he will meet the president, as a gesture of courtesy. After he has been to Cotroceni, the rest of the visit will be private. He’s known to have various projects that he’s been involved in over the years and private visits usually include that kind of thing and I expect there will be that on this occasion, but there will be private meetings,” Noble said.
He explained that the past involvement of the Prince of Wales in the activities of non-governmental organizations is part of the activities undertaken by the British Government.
“Our government collaborates deeply with NGOs, in all areas. So there is no problem with being able to work with NGOs as a king, only when acting as a king does it advisedly by the Government. This is a private visit,” the ambassador added.
The diplomat did not provide more information about the visit of King Charles III, stressing that this private character will be respected. “I don’t want to give details, because I want (the visit – n.r.) to be as quiet and discreet as possible for the King. One of the great advantages of Romania is the tranquility, so his private visits here will be respected as such”, the ambassador emphasized.
The last visit to Romania by His Royal Highness Charles, then Prince of Wales, took place in May 2022.