A royal first as Charles touches down in Kigali
PRINCE Charles became the first member of the Royal Family to set foot on Rwandan soil as he and Camilla touched down in Kigali last night.
Charles is representing the Queen at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting for the first time since he was chosen to inherit her position as head of the global ‘family of nations’ in 2018.
But the prince also faces a potentially awkward meeting with Boris Johnson following the revelation earlier this month that he had privately described the Prime Minister’s Rwandan asylum scheme as ‘appalling’.
Clarence House has declined to comment on ‘supposed anonymous private conversations’ except to restate that
Charles remains politically neutral and ‘matters of policy are decisions for government’. Meetings are planned toward the end of the week at which the prince and the Prime Minister will be present.
The prince and the Duchess of Cornwall arrived in the Rwandan capital aboard the ministerial jet RAF Voyager.
Charles will hold several meetings to ‘listen and continue to learn’ about the key issues that the countries of the Commonwealth are facing, particularly over climate change, economic development, opportunities for the young and gender equality. Today he will mark Rwanda’s 199 genocide.