King Charles III and his wife Camilla will make a state visit to Kenya from October 31 to November 3, the king’s first trip to a Commonwealth country since his coronation, Buckingham Palace announced on Wednesday.
This visit, at the invitation of Kenyan President William Ruto, will be an opportunity to “celebrate the warm relations between the two countries and the strong and dynamic partnership that they continue to forge,” the palace said in a statement. It will take place about a month and a half after the visit of Charles III and his wife to France and as Kenya prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its independence, proclaimed on December 12, 1963.
The first visit of Charles III as king will take place “in the country in which the reign of Queen Elizabeth II began”, in February 1952, underlines the palace. Then princess, she was in Kenya as part of a tour of the Commonwealth when her father King George VI died.
Charles and Camilla will visit the capital Nairobi and Mombasa (south) regions. Their program “will reflect how Kenya and the UK work together, including to boost mutual prosperity, tackle climate change, promote youth opportunities and employment, advance sustainable development and create a regional more stable and safer,” the palace continues.
The King and Queen will meet President William Ruto and his wife, United Nations staff, religious leaders and young people.
The visit will also be an opportunity to discuss “the most painful aspects of the shared history of the United Kingdom and Kenya” in the years before independence, adds the palace. Between 1952 and 1960, more than 10,000 people were killed in Kenya following the Mau Mau revolt against colonial power, one of the bloodiest repressions of the British Empire.
Charles III and Camilla will visit the site where independence was declared. This is Charles’ fourth official visit to the country. It is also in Kenya that Prince William, the heir to the throne, proposed to Kate Middleton in 2010.
