Charles hosts first state visit as king
King Charles hosted his first state visit since becoming British monarch, welcoming Cyril Ramaphosa to Buckingham Palace, where the South African president invoked Nelson Mandela as he paid tribute to the close ties between the two countries.
Charles, 74, rolled out the traditional pomp and ceremony on Tuesday as Britain sought to bolster its relations with its biggest trading partner in Africa.
“South Africa, like the Commonwealth, has always been a part of my life. My mother often recalled her visit in 1947, the year before I was born, when, from Cape Town on Her 21st birthday, she pledged her life to the service of the people of the Commonwealth,” Charles said in a speech at the banquet held in the president’s honour
“It is therefore particularly moving and special that you are our guest on this, the first State Visit we have hosted.”
Addressing lawmakers in parliament, Ramaphosa lauded the two nations’ close ties, forged in the wake of a difficult legacy of colonialism and apartheid.
He said he would raise the idea of allowing more South African students to study in Britain when he met with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, adding that the restructuring of South Africa’s energy market to battle power shortages could provide opportunities for British companies.
Britain hoped the visit, which had been planned before the death of Queen Elizabeth in September, would strengthen trade and investment ties between the two nations, and show the importance of links with the Commonwealth of Nations, the international organisation that Charles now heads.
Ramaphosa was officially greeted by Charles’ eldest son and heir Prince William and his wife Princess Catherine at a central London hotel to mark the start of his two-day trip, the first state visit to the UK by a world leader since that of then-us president Donald Trump and his wife Melania in 2019.