William talks up UKGerman ties
BERLIN: Britain and Germany will remain close even after Brexit, Prince William said yesterday during a tour meant to shore up relations with EU countries before Britain leaves the bloc.
With the British Government struggling to show unity as negotiations on leaving the European Union began in earnest this week, William and his wife, Kate, were in Berlin on what Deutschlandfunk radio called a ‘‘charm offensive in times of Brexit’’.
‘‘This relationship between the United Kingdom and Germany really matters,’’ William said at an evening garden party.
‘‘It will continue despite Britain’s recent decision to leave the European Union and I’m confident we shall remain the firmest of friends.’’
Earlier, William, second in line to the British throne, and Kate walked through Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate and shook hands with locals who cheered, took photographs and waved the British flag. They lunched with Chancellor Angela Merkel at her offices.
While couple their dren Prince George, who turns 4 this month, and 2yearold Princess Charlotte — have delighted the crowds in Germany and Poland, where they began the twocountry tour, one newspaper said they could do little to ease the pain of the divorce with the EU.
‘‘William and Kate supposed to smile Brexit away in Germany,’’ ran the headline in regional newspaper Rheinische Post.
As well as meeting German President FrankWalter Steinmeier, the couple visited a charity in eastern Berlin that works with disadvantaged children.
They also met survivors of the Holocaust and toured Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial. — Reuters the and chil
—