The visit of Prince of Wales, Charles, and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, started with laying a wreath at the Monument of the Unknown Soldier in front of the Greek Palriament in downtown Athens.
The royal airplane had arrived in Athens at 2:54 Wednesday noon.
After the wreath ceremony the Prince and the Duchess proceeded to the Presiential Manor where they were welcomed by the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, and his wife.
As the custom dictates, the two men exchanged presents. The Prince of Wales brought 6 porcelain plates all made in the Royal Court as well as a picture with his spouse.
The Greek gift was a gold plated amphora of Minoan art.
But the gift that reportedly left the Prince speechless was an invitation of the Mayor of Corfu to the baptize of his father, Philip. The Duke of Edinbourgh was baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church of Mon Repos in October 1921, a few months after his birth there. The special gift was reportedly given by a collector who had also managed to find the menu served the special event.
After the visit to the Presidency, Prince Charles paid a visit to Maximos Mansion where he met with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
Thanking the Greek prime minister for his warm reception, the Prince of Wales referred to his previous visits to the country and his certainty that Greece and Britain can achieve much by cooperating in areas such as security, migration and others.
Noting that this was a first official visit by a member of the British royal family to Athens, Tsipras said it could be a milestone in relations between Greece and the United Kingdom. Tsipras also used the opportunity to announce that he had accepted an invitation from British Prime Minister Theresa May to visit London in June.
The Duchess followed a different program and paid a short visit to the wonderful collection of Greek artifacts at Benaki Museum. She was accompanied by Tsipras’ partner, Betty Baziana.
The Prince of Wales had a meeting with the leader of main opposition party New Democracy, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Then he …disappeared for an hour. Where was he? The mystery was half revealed: he had visited a Greek businessman with whom he has a long-lasting friendship. The name of the businessman remains undisclosed until now.
In the evening, the royal couple will attend an official dinner to heir honor by president Pavlopoulos. Just 100 guests are invited, among them ten ministers and their spouses. The dinner will reportedly consist of Greek dishes mainly with fish.G
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall have a very busy schedule also on Thursday.
During the lunch at the Yachting Club in Mikrolimano, Piraeus, they will also meet with Charles’ cousin, the former Greek King, Constantine. After Greeks rejected monarchy in a referendum in 1974, Greek politicians refrain from issuing invitations to the former king.
A Greek private TV channel played a short footage of ex king Constantine and his wife Anna-Maria watching the Wreath ceremony at Syntagma from a suite of the Hotel Grande Bretagne.
sources: @clarencehouse, newsit, ert, amna and others.
