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Britain’s Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall visit CS Lewis Square in Belfast, Northern Ireland, March 23, 2022. — Niall Carson/Pool pic via Reuters
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DUBLIN, March 23 — Prince Charles and his wife Camilla begin a three-day visit to Ireland today, as part of a series of royal tours for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee year.
The Prince of Wales, 73, and Duchess of Cornwall, 74, are scheduled to start their visit in Waterford, Ireland’s oldest city, before concluding their tour at the Rock of Cashel, a collection of mediaeval buildings in southern Ireland that served as the seat of historic local kings.
“Throughout the visit, Their Royal Highnesses will meet local community groups, businesses and first responders who worked to support others through the pandemic,” the British Embassy in Dublin said in a statement.
Charles, who is the 95-year-old monarch’s eldest son and heir, will also meet Irish prime minister Micheal Martin, as well as farmers and community organisers involved in tackling climate change and members of Ireland’s Ukrainian community.
The couple have visited Ireland five times in the past, most recently in 2019 when they met President Michael D. Higgins in County Wicklow on Ireland’s southeast coast.
Before heading south to the Republic of Ireland today, they visited tourist attractions in Belfast including the Titanic Belfast museum about the ill-fated ocean liner, where they met with local organisations involved in helping and supporting refugees.
Record-breaking 70th year
The royal couple tested positive for Covid last month, forcing Camilla to abandon a scheduled appearance at the Cheltenham festival which is popular with Irish horse-racing fans.
They did, however, attend an event at the Irish Cultural Centre in west London ahead of St Patrick’s Day celebrations for Ireland’s patron saint on March 17.
Premier Martin also had to cancel a visit to the White House to meet US President Joe Biden after the Irish leader tested positive.
The trip by Charles and Camilla coincides with a series of spring royal tours, including one by his eldest son, Prince William and his wife Catherine, to the Caribbean.
Senior royals are visiting eight of the 14 Commonwealth countries outside the UK where the queen is also head of state to mark her record-breaking 70th year on the throne.
Public events over four days are to be held in the UK in early June to mark the occasion.
The Queen, who turns 96 next month and has been in fragile health, made history in 2011 when she became the first British monarch to visit Ireland since its independence.
The state visit was seen as helping overcome deep-rooted unease and putting Anglo-Irish relations on a new footing. — AFP