King Charles, Queen Camilla welcomed with gun salute in Germany

King Charles III and his wife Camilla landed in Germany for the start of their first state visit on Wednesday.

The 74-year-old monarch and Queen Consort were welcomed with a gun salute over their arrival at Berlin Brandenburg Airport for the start of their three-day visit.

Two military jets carried out a fly past as King and Queen Consort stepped off the plane. German officials also greeted the couple.

They then traveled to Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, where German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife, Elke Budenbender, greeted Charles and Camilla with a ceremonial welcome with full military honors.

The royal couple will later be guests of honor at a state banquet at Schloss Bellevue, the official residence of the German president.

The two heads of state will discuss sustainability and the transition to renewable energy. Environmental protection is one of the king's pet causes.

Ahead of visit, King Charles and Queen Camila shared a message on their official Twitter account, saying: "Our first State Visit to Germany, we are very much looking forward to meeting all of those who make this country so special. It is a great joy to be able to continue the deepening of the longstanding friendship between our two nations."

The 74-year-old monarch's trip should have begun on Sunday in France but the first leg was scrapped amid strikes and civil unrest in the country over the government's pension reforms.

King Charles trip comes after his younger son Prince Harry accused the royal family of withholding information from him for a long time about phone hacking, alleging they did not want to "open a can of worms".