A New Beginning: German President Steinmeier’s State Visit to the UK
London – The state visit of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife elke Büdenbender to the United Kingdom sends a clear message: Germany and Great Britain want to attempt a political fresh start after the difficult Brexit years.
It was King Charles III himself who made this palpable at the state banquet. With a sentence that added its own brilliance even in the grand Windsor Castle (45-metre long table, 152 guests, including model claudia Schiffer, ex-footballer Thomas Hitzlsperger, star violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, BMW CEO Oliver Zipse, and composer Hans Zimmer).
Cheers! Model icon Claudia Schiffer (55) and british Prime Minister Keir Starmer (63) clink glasses.
Steinmeier’s Visit to Windsor Castle
BILD accompanied the German President and his wife to England, staying close to the action throughout. When BILD asked the President how it felt to sleep in the castle, he said: “You spend the night in 1000 years of history. Every generation of monarchs has left its mark there. What I’ve seen has deeply, deeply impressed me. And besides all that, I also slept well. The bed was comfortable.” Old or modern? “Old.”
[Image of a 25-meter opulent Christmas tree and a 45-meter richly decorated table. Photo: PA-AFP/POOL supplied by Splash News / SplashNews.com]
what Steinmeier and the King Discussed
I wanted to know what most impressed him about the King – not the pomp, not the uniforms, not the protocol, but the man himself.”Of course, a King is first and foremost a king. But I can say: after the many years we’ve known each other, the conversations have become more open. We talk about family, about our backgrounds, and about what worries and shapes us.”