King Charles hosts South Africa’s Ramaphosa for first state visit

The monarch welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa because the UK seeks to bolster its ties with its greatest buying and selling companion in Africa.

President Ramaphosa shakes fingers with King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla throughout the welcome ceremony at Horse Guards Parade in London, the UK [Leon Neal/Pool via Reuters]

King Charles has hosted his first state go to since changing into British monarch, welcoming South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to Buckingham Palace.

Charles, 74, rolled out the standard pomp and ceremony on Tuesday for the primary time as head of state, as Britain seeks to bolster its relations with its greatest buying and selling companion in Africa.

Ramaphosa and his spouse have been formally greeted by Charles’s eldest son and inheritor Prince William and his spouse Kate at a central London lodge to mark the beginning of his two-day journey, the primary state go to to the UK by a world chief since that of former United States President Donald Trump and his spouse Melania in 2019.

Prince William and his spouse Kate greet President Cyril Ramaphosa on the Corinthia Lodge in London [Justin Tallis/Pool via Reuters]

Gun salutes and a ceremonial welcome from the king and his spouse Camilla, the queen consort, adopted earlier than a grand carriage procession alongside The Mall to Buckingham Palace, the place a banquet shall be held later within the president’s honour.

Ramaphosa is scheduled to go to Westminster Abbey to put a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior and see the memorial stone for former South African President Nelson Mandela.

He can even handle lawmakers in Parliament and meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Commerce, funding ties

Britain hopes the go to, which had been deliberate earlier than the loss of life of Queen Elizabeth in September, will strengthen commerce and funding ties between the 2 nations, and present the significance of hyperlinks with the Commonwealth of Nations, the worldwide organisation that Charles now heads.

“It is a reinforcement of the robust bilateral relationship that we have now with South Africa, an actual alternative to construct on that shut working relationship and talk about a number of the points that have an effect on us all,” British Overseas Minister James Cleverly advised Reuters information company.

The final state go to to Britain by a South African chief was that of President Jacob Zuma in 2010, when he was met by Charles and Camilla at first of the journey.