King Charles in Berlin for first foreign visit as monarch

STORY: "Over all these years and in so many ways, I have been struck by the warmth of the friendship between our nations and by the vitality of our partnership in countless areas," Charles said in a speech, delivered partly in German, at a state banquet in the German capital hosted by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Charles, who succeeded his mother Queen Elizabeth upon her death in September, had been due to travel first to France, but canceled that part of the tour due to violent social unrest there.

The fact that Charles had picked European powers France and Germany for his first state visit – even before his coronation in May – was an important "European gesture," said Steinmeier, who called attention to March 29, 2017, when the United Kingdom invoked Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) to begin its exit from the bloc.

"Today, exactly six years later, we are turning over a new leaf. We look ahead under changed conditions - but still together," Steinmeier said.

Over a three-day visit to Berlin, Brandenburg in the east and the northern port city of Hamburg, Charles will attend engagements reflecting issues facing both countries, such as environmental sustainability and the Ukraine crisis, and will also commemorate the past, according to Buckingham Palace.