Charles III in the Bundestag: Anything but ordinary

The British government was probably in charge of his speech manuscript, but Charles III. still did something extraordinary. It was funny and a bit quirky too.

Jan Korte from the Left Party probably knew why he wanted to prevent the British King Charles III. speaks before the Bundestag. Korte justified it by saying that Charles was neither elected nor did anything extraordinary. In reality, however, the left-wing politician probably suspected that he would face strong competition in the Bundestag. Because Korte is a great speaker. King Charles III there was stiff competition. If everyone talked like him, Bundestags-TV would probably be a ratings hit.

King Charles is a real speaking pro. He skilfully balanced between historical events in German-British relations, personal anecdotes with his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, in Germany – and the common attitude of British and Germans in the Ukraine war.

He was looking forward to music by the German Georg Friedrich Handel for his forthcoming coronation and was not above including the legendary sentence: “The same procedure as every year, Miss Sophie” from “Dinner for One”. In the same upperclass english as Butler James. Big laughter in the Bundestag.

The quirky uncle from London

Of course Charles III. did not write this speech alone. The speechwriters of the British government were probably in charge, Downing Street finally sent him to Germany. The aim of the speech was clear: we Britons want to be Europe’s best friends again. That is why the word Brexit was not used once. It was all about similarities.

But Charles was just the right person to convey that in a sympathetic way: He seemed like the nice, somewhat quirky but well-read uncle from London, who brushed up his German skills for his visit, who knows his German relatives and somehow also likes them a bit .

In this respect, Jan Korte from the Left Party is only half right. Yes, Charles III. was not democratically elected – but he did an extraordinary job today.