Royal visit + strikes + climate kicks

Dear Reader,

• King Charles III will become the first ever monarch to give a speech inside the German Bundestag on Thursday. We wait with baited breath to see whether he will deliver it in German, as he did while still a prince on a visit in 2020. Previously classified preparations for his mothers visits seen by Der Spiegel show that Elisabeth II tried to speak in front of the German parliament on her visit shortly after German reunification in 1992. But when the proposal was put to then Chancellor Helmut Kohl his chief of staff returned it with a note that stated “BK: nein!” in red ink. The BK stands for Bundeskanzler. Kohl was apparently still angry that Margaret Thatcher had attempted to frustrate reunification as she feared the influence and power of a reunited Germany. Charles’ speech to the Bundestag this week remains controversial, though. The left-wing Linke have said that a king shouldn’t be given the space to talk in the debating chamber of a republic.

  • BACKGROUND: Republic or mo…