On the eve of the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, when the US President met Zelenskyy in Kiev, King Charles III. the Ukrainian Armed Forces at their training facility in Wiltshire, UK.
“You are exceptional,” said the king to the soldiers who will be trained by British and international forces in five weeks. To add: “I don’t know how you manage all this, I have a lot of admiration for you”.
Among the Ukrainian soldiers the king encountered was a New Zealand soldier who greeted him with the Maori greeting, the Hongi.
Barbour, Sportswear, the Sovereign paid a surprise visit to the secret location in Wiltshire where the training center is located. From the first hour after the Russian attack on Kiev, the king had declared his support for those attacked. “Brutal attack” is shouted in the name of respect for democracy. While his mother, Queen Elizabeth, was the first to make a sizeable donation in favor of the Ukrainian people.
King Charles III today visited the Ukrainian Armed Forces at their training center in Wiltshire, UK. Surprise visit to a secret location where Ukrainian troops are being trained by British and international forces for five weeks. “I admire you,” said the king. From the first hour after the Russian attack on Kiev, the British sovereign had declared his support for those attacked. In the name of respect for democracy, “brutal attack” is shouted He exchanged a Maori greeting with New Zealand soldiers (Text: Enrica Roddolo)
A week ago, the king received the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in Buckingham Palace. “We are all very concerned about you and your country,” said King Karl Zelenskyy in greeting. “The King was an Air Force pilot.” Zelensky had commented on his meeting at Buckingham Palace with admiration for the military competence demonstrated by Charles. Adding: “And in Ukraine nowadays every pilot is a king.”
Zelensky’s London journey had then taken him to Westminster Hall – what is now what remains of the ancient Palace of Westminster (at the time of the Norman and Plantagenet kings) and was incorporated into the Houses of Parliament. There Zelensky had spoken, recalling Winston Churchill’s historic war speech and revealing that before the war he had sat in the statesman’s chair and visited the Cabinet War Rooms in London. At Westminster Hall, the world paid a final farewell tribute to Queen Elizabeth in September. And where in September the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelensky went to pay homage to the Queen. He expressed his admiration for the sovereign: “Throughout his life he has always believed in the same values that Ukraine is fighting for today.”
As for the king’s flying skills, the Ukrainian president is actually right: Carlo is qualified both as a pilot and in the navy. A military path he has always been proud of, so much so that he chose to wear the military uniform for the coronation in May. And as for the king’s sympathy for the Ukrainian cause and Zelenskyy, let’s not forget that he was the first head of state to speak out to witness Russian aggression with Queen Camilla.
Without forgetting that Queen Elizabeth – always reluctant to express her opinion – had not hesitated to exhibit a bouquet of yellow and blue flowers like the Ukrainian colors in her Windsor studio in the last season of her life.
“Brutal attack.” Then Prince Charles condemned the invasion of Ukraine a year ago in the strongest possible terms. And again an attack “on democracy and freedom”. Never before had a member of the royal family – after the Second World War – spoken out so strongly and with such a clear political stance. But the Ukrainian emergency is actually the worst threat to peace in Europe since World War II. Enough to justify a radical move. Not to mention that even as Prince of Wales he had never hesitated to take a stand.