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Tuesday March 19, 2024

King Charles lays wreath for WWII bombing victims in Hamburg

Then Queen Consort Camilla placed a white rose at the memorial.

By Web Desk
March 31, 2023
King Charles lays wreath for WWII bombing victims in Hamburg
King Charles lays wreath for WWII bombing victims in Hamburg

Hamburg: King Charles III on Friday commemorated German victims of World War II Allied air raids, a gesture carrying great significance for both countries.

On the third and final day of his first state visit since ascending the throne, the monarch, accompanied by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, visited the St Nikolai memorial in Hamburg, where he laid a wreath.

The move, in the ruins of a church, is unprecedented for a British sovereign. TV commentators on rolling news channel NTV calling it a "great, great symbol".

When Charles´s late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, visited Dresden in 1992, eggs were flung at her after she failed to get out of her car to lay a wreath at the rubble of the Frauenkirche -- a symbol of wartime destruction.

After laying the wreath alongside Steinmeier and Hamburg mayor Peter Tschentscher, Charles stood for a moment with his head bowed.

Then Queen Consort Camilla placed a white rose at the memorial.

Ahead of the ceremony, Germany´s biggest-selling daily Bild said Charles´ gesture at the memorial "will say more than any speech".

The issue of German suffering in World War II is historically and politically explosive. (AFP)