King Charles celebrates ‘deep friendship’ between the UK and Germany in State Banquet speech

Charles, who spoke portions of the speech in German, said: ”It seems only yesterday that we paid our State Visit to Germany in 2023, the first one since my Accession. On this and on our previous visits, you and your dear wife showed both my wife and myself much kindness.

“That makes the pleasure all the greater that we can welcome you here at Windsor as our guests, a mark of a very special friendship that binds our two nations.

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“During our Visit, you kindly invited me to address the Bundestag in a deeply appreciated gesture of remarkable friendship, as well as visit your world-famous markets, celebrate the spirit of reconciliation under the ‘Cross of Nails’ at St. Nikolai Memorial Church, and be shown how you are using green energy in your ports and transport infrastructure.

“I am so pleased, therefore, that your visit in the days ahead to London and to Coventry will carry many of the same themes, recognising the deeply historic and richly innovative relationship our two nations hold.

“The bedrock of our relationship has not only been in ideas, but also in trade: merchants and craftsmen from Dortmund and Cologne who, in 1380, operated the Guildhall of The Germans in London which then dominated trade between our nations, and indeed across Europe, for over two hundred years!

“Football, of course, is another shared endeavour, and I am delighted to see so many of the footballing fraternity around the table with us here this evening. Of course, I use the word “shared” in the broadest meaning of the word: there was, one has to admit, some element of truth in the famous description of football as a game where eleven people play eleven people, and then, in the end, the Germans win!

“And with our German friends, as with all of the closest relationships, we celebrate not only our shared characteristics, but also our differences. It can have escaped no one’s attention that Germans are considered by many in my country to have a somewhat different sense of humour. But let me assure you, Herr Bundespräsident, British humour is no laughing matter.”

Earlier in the day, the King had greeted the German president outside Windsor and Eton Riverside station.

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The German leader greeted the monarch with evident warmth, declaring: “It’s so wonderful, your majesty, to see you again” before sharing a hearty laugh and clasping the King’s hand.

Continuing at the State Banquet, the King said: “We have, of course, experienced the darkest times, and the most terrible consequences of conflict. But perhaps now, so many decades later, the acknowledgment of past suffering has become the basis for an honest friendship, renewed and redoubled.

“So looking ahead, Herr Bundespräsident, we have a responsibility to our citizens, and to our European neighbours as well as the wider world, to speak about the shared values of the United Kingdom and Germany, and our shared vision for the future of our modern world, as encapsulated in the Kensington Treaty.

“As two of the world’s great economies and great powers, and with such intimate understanding of one another, I am confident we will face these challenges together.

“Our partnership continues to adapt to new times. We now find ourselves at the forefront of a global transformation – the search for a way of living that is at once prosperous, humane and sustainable. Here, as elsewhere, Britain and Germany stand shoulder to shoulder – guided not only by technology and science, but by conscience.

“We are working together to secure the transition to a world powered by clean energy, the very basis of a liveable planet for future generations. And from protection of the world’s rainforests through to the development of renewable energy in the North Sea, to the restoration of our peatlands, to the promise of nuclear fusion, and the transformative impact of quantum technologies and space research, our two countries are partners not just in policy, but in practice.

“We are animated by the same belief: that progress is only meaningful when it genuinely serves humanity.

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He concluded: “In that conviction, let us tonight renew our shared determination to face the future together – with honesty, and in deep friendship.

“Therefore, as we celebrate that deep friendship, allow me to propose a toast: a toast to you, Herr Bundespräsident and to you, Frau Büdenbender, and to the people of the Federal Republic of Germany.”