Kate Middleton handed key role ahead of historic state visit – details in full

Beginning tomorrow, King Charles will make his third major state visit to Windsor, where the Prince and Princess of Wales will play a significant part.

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Here’s everything we know about the German president’s three-day visit to the UK now that the King and Queen are gearing up for their third inward state visit of the year.

• The three-day trip will begin in Windsor on Wednesday as King Charles prepares to meet the German president for a historic state visit.

• Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife, former judge Elke Budenbender, will be formally welcomed by the Prince and Princess of Wales on behalf of the monarch when they touch down in Heathrow tomorrow, before travelling to Windsor.

• Mr. Steinmeier will be welcomed ceremonially in the castle quadrangle following a carriage ride through the streets of the castle with Camilla, William, and Kate as guests. On Wednesday evening, the German leader will receive a lavish state banquet in St George’s Hall, a former royal residence.

• Before joining the King and Queen for a Big Help Out reception to highlight the positive impact volunteering can have on communities, he will privately place flowers at the late Queen Elizabeth II’s tomb in the castle’s St George’s Chapel.

• This will be Germany’s first state visit since 1958, and it will also be its fifth state visit from Germany. King Charles will also make his third state visit this year, joining Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron, who were both first introduced in September.

• President Steinmeier has been to Britain on numerous occasions, most recently to the Their Majesties’ Coronation in May 2023.

• Mr. Steinmeier will visit Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon for talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and attend a meeting of UK and German business leaders. On Thursday, Mr. Steinmeier will address Parliament.

• The Duke of Kent and the German president will pay a moving visit to the former Coventry Cathedral, which was bombed by the Germans during World War II, on Friday. The Coventry Blitz in November 1940, which resulted in the deaths of 568 people and the destruction of 4,300 homes, as well as the destruction of St. Michael’s Cathedral, 85 years old, is observed today.