Carlo and Camilla, the historic royal tour in Rwanda has begun: the photos

C.arlo of England and his wife Camilla Shand, Duchess of Cornwallarrived in Rwandataking the place of Elizabeth IIfor a Commonwealth Leaders Summit. It is a royal historical tour: no British royal had ever visited the African country, one of the few places in the world where the queen, in seventy years of reign, has never been. The trip, by the way, comes just a few days after that Charlesas revealed by the TimesYes is against the forced repatriation of Rwandan migrants organized by the government of Boris Johnson (in mid-June seven asylum seekers were already on board the Boeing which was about to transfer them to Africa when the European Court of Human Rights blocked the flight at the last minute). British royalty have always been “politically neutral”. Yet the future king would have defined the decision to repatriate the migrants “Appalling”, that is simply frightening.

Carlo and Camilla are landed in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, where they were welcomed by Johnston Busingye, Rwanda’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, and Omar Daair, the United Kingdom’s High Commissioner to Rwanda. The royals met Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda, and his wife Jeannette. Then they visited the memorial which commemorates the approximately 800,000 victims of the genocide of 1994. Next commitment, the Commonwealth Leaders’ Summit (postponed to both 2020 and 2021 due to pandemic), which will last one week: over 5,000 participants are expected by governments, businesses and civil society. “As the world works to restart after Covid, and in this Jubilee year, it is more important than ever that the countries of the Commonwealth come together,” said Carlo last March. replacing mum Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey at the Commonwealth Day ceremony.

Leading the important ceremony had been yet another confirmation of the growing, and increasingly active, role of the future king. Elizabeth’s record reign also began with a “replacement” in the name of the Commonwealth. With the Commonwealth tour (it was her father George VI who asked her to go in her place) which left London on January 31, 1952. Since then Elizabeth has made almost 200 trips to the Commonwealth. Now in Rwanda, one of the few countries in the world that the queen has never visited, there is Carlo. And at his side there is the future queen Camilla.

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