King Charles the third in Germany.

 King Charles the third in Germany.

It's some time since we last heard of the whereabouts of King Charles the third. He's always been there at the back of our minds and even there in the middle of an important news bulletin. True, the public image and perception of the King hasn't been the high profile one we might have been expecting. But with King Charles the third Coronation now just over a month away now, the man who would be King found himself in the middle of Germany today speaking in German, entertaining German politicians with a dry line in humour and then realising that his position of monarch is now one that has to be taken seriously.

But today King the Charles the third spoke to the Reichstag in Berlin with all the natural fluency of a German citizen. To those of us with very raw sensitivities on the subject of the World Wars and the Holocaust, this is the not the sound we would have liked to hear even 76 years after the end of the Second World War. The Germanic Teutonic dialect is still as harsh, guttural, stern and distressingly military at times but there is now a grudging acceptance of bygones being bygones and moving on.

Listening to the King speaking German is now something to be admired rather than abhorred, a language that no longer belongs in Hitler's impassioned, hysterical speeches where the fists were brandished with menacing intent and wholesale barbaric murder of the global population was the only issue that had to be addressed. Admittedly, the King's impeccable command of German is remarkably reminiscent of the late and much loved Her Majesty the Queen's French so there is a multi lingual love of languages running through the royal genes.

Today though King Charles the third appealed warmly to his audience in a way that his mother would have taken careful mental note of and probably approved of. We all know of the Royal Family's German ancestry but for the first time in quite a long time Charles looked comfortable and relaxed, at ease with himself and no longer the sole focus of attention as became readily apparent when Her Majesty The Queen passed so poignantly. He was happy, relaxed and delighted to be among a nation who once launched a blistering attack on Buckingham Palace during the Second World War.

And yet it was time to talk about more up to date, topical and contemporary accounts of the monarchy and today's problems, difficulties, anxieties, hopes and passions. Dressed in typically sartorial elegance, Charles gazed across a rapt Reichstag fully equipped with gentle pleasantries and the fervent hope that Britain could still enjoy amicable relations in Europe despite the uncertainties surrounding Brexit. He then did something that nobody thought he'd ever mention. He made humorous references to Monty Python humour and probably thought of the celebrated sketch in BBC's 1970s national comedy treasure Fawlty Towers. 

You must remember the sketch, surely. John Cleese(aka Basil Fawlty, owner of the craziest hotel in Torquay) strides pompously into a dining room where a poor, unsuspecting German family are subjected to a rude and vitriolic tirade from Fawlty. Cleese then barks furiously at the said Germans with all the ruthless arrogance you'd expect of the man. He then reminds them of their German heritage and then apologises for his irrational behaviour insisting though that the Germans were still wholly responsible for the Second World War.

Still, here we are on the final day of March 2023 and maybe now would be the right time to forgive and forget the sins of our now distant ancestors. From where you stood there should, in theory, be no room for apologies and a conviction that it'll never happen again doesn't really sound realistic. The truth is though that there remains a strong underground element of racism and antisemitism brewing quite disturbingly in Europe. 

At the moment there are isolated outrages of desecrated Jewish gravestones being daubed unforgivably with Nazi swastikas or destroyed in quite the most reprehensible and disgusting fashion. Russia, under the despicable tyranny of one Vladimir Putin, are spreading hate crime of the most malicious and evil kind, killing hundreds and thousands of innocent Ukranians and flattening homes, buildings and shops with a violent ferocity that hardly seems possible. And yet it's happening on a daily basis.

For a while though today King Charles the Third was the authentic voice of peace and reason, reassurance and dignity, a man with an unwavering commitment to the civilised standards that you'd like any society to stick to. He plunged his hands in his pockets as his late father Prince Philip was often wont to do on so many occasions and told his German audience that most of the world would just like to cut out this aggressive nonsense, the ugly face of bloodshed, death and brutality consigned to history.

It was nice to see the new King of the United Kingdom and Head of Commonwealth because at long last Charles has got everything under control. In the days and weeks after the sad death of his mother Her Majesty the Queen, Charles was an emotional wreck. The image of Charles showing understandable annoyance when handed a leaky fountain pen for yet another signature is one that does stay in the mind from time to time. Let us all salute the new King Charles the third and the Queen consort Camilla. May they reign supreme with enormous dignity.