A state visit by the German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to the United Kingdom is being billed as a moment of reconciliation between the two countries. He will be received by the British Royal Family, notably King Charles and Queen Camilla.
This is the first state visit by a German head of state in 27 years.
The itinerary includes a visit to Coventry, and a wreath laying ceremony at the ruins of Coventry Cathedral. He will be joined here by the Duke of Kent, who is the last working Royal with direct memory of the war. The ceremony will also include a prayer for “peace and reconciliation”.
Coventry Cathedral was destroyed in wartime bombing, and its ruins remain as a symbol of the destructiveness of the war.
The Duke has a prominent role in promoting relations between Germany and the UK. He is the patron of the British German Association, and earlier this year attended the 8oth anniversary of the bombing of Dresden during the war.
President Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender will also be hosted by the Royal family at Windsor Castle, where he will be treated to some royal pageantry, including a carriage ride.
He will also hold talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
King Charles and Queen Camilla visited Germany on a state visit in 2023. The King was the first British monarch to address the German Bundestag.
Despite the intense competition between Germany and the UK in the late 19th Century, and the two world wars in the first half of the 20th, the British Royal family are themselves descended from German royalty.
[Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HM_King_Charles_III_HM_The_Queen_Consort_%28cropped-v1%29.jpg]