King Charles, Camilla to host South African President in first state visit of reign

London: King Charles III will next month host the first state visit of his new reign when South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his wife travel to Britain, Buckingham Palace announced Monday.

“The President of the Republic of South Africa… has accepted an invitation from his majesty the king to pay a state visit to the United Kingdom from Tuesday 22nd November to Thursday 24th November 2022,” the palace said.

“The king and the queen consort (Camilla) will host the state visit at Buckingham Palace,” it added, noting South Africa´s first lady Tshepo Motsepe would accompany her husband on the visit.

Charles III ascended to the throne following the September 8 death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, the country´s longest-serving sovereign.

As the UK´s head of state, the monarch makes and hosts state visits with foreign royals, presidents or prime ministers, which are arranged on the advice of the government´s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

The new king is yet to announce his first overseas visit, with reports that plans are being finalised for him to travel to France after he bonded with President Emmanuel Macron over environmental issues.

It emerged late Saturday that he will not travel to next month´s COP27 climate summit in Egypt after UK Prime Minister Liz Truss reportedly “objected” to Charles attending at a meeting last month between the pair.

That follows speculation Truss could controversially scale back the country´s climate change commitments. (AFP)