King Charles said he wanted to “renew the special bond of friendship” between the UK and Germany, without mentioning the B-word that has caused the friendship to grow cold in recent years, as he addressed the Bundestag in Berlin on Thursday.
The monarch’s speech was the first given to Germany’s federal parliament by a non-elected head of state. It was pitched as a celebration of cultural commonalities and joint ventures past and present – from a shared love of music and comedy to energy and security cooperation – and an attempt to repair ties that have fractured since the Brexit vote seven years ago.
