Witaj Polsko! Hundreds of royal fans line the streets to welcome Kate and William to Warsaw as they kick off an action-packed trip to Poland
- Duke and Duchess arrived at Warsaw’s Chopin airport just before midday
- Were accompanied by their children George, three, and Charlotte, two
- Couple went straight to a meeting with Polish president Andrzej Duda
- After lunch they were greeted by huge crowds outside presidential palace
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge shook hands with the crowd and signed autographs in Poland on Monday at the start of a two-country goodwill trip that is intended to underscore Britain’s friendly ties with the European Union that it is in the process of leaving.
After arriving at Warsaw’s airport, they were driven in a motorcade to meet President Andrzej Duda and First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda at the Presidential Palace for lunch and a stroll around the palace gardens.
After lunch the royal couple were greeted by a huge crowd waving British and Polish flags and taking photos, as they took a brief walk in front of the palace.
Next stop on the ‘respect and friendship’ tour includes was a visit to the 1944 Warsaw Uprising Museum, dedicated to the uprising of 1944 which saw the Polish resistance Home Army attempt to liberate Warsaw from German occupation.
The pair chatted to World War II veterans and were then due to have a meeting with representatives from Polish and British business.
In the evening, Prince William is set to deliver a speech during a reception in the historic Lazienki Park in honor of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
On their first official visit to Poland the couple were accompanied by their children, Prince George, who will be four on Saturday, and Princess Charlotte, two.
The children are expected to draw wide attention on a trip being characterised by the British press as part of a charm offensive to soften Britain’s Brexit diplomacy.
Warsaw’s Belvedere Palace, where they are residing during the visit, has had playground toys installed.
On Tuesday, the royals will travel to the Baltic coast city of Gdansk, where they will visit a replica of Shakespeare’s theater and meet the former president, Lech Walesa, who was instrumental in bringing about the end of communism in Poland. On Wednesday, they head to Berlin.
During their five-day tour William and Kate will also meet survivors of the Holocaust and Nazi oppression as they acknowledge the complex 20th century histories of each country.
In Poland, they will tour the former Stutthof concentration camp where 65,000 people died at the hands of their captors, and also visit Berlin’s Holocaust museum and memorial.
They will also tour the site of Gdansk’s shipyards, the birthplace of Poland’s Solidarity movement that helped topple Communist rule.
Here they will meet with founding members of the organisation but it is not known if Lech Walesa, Poland’s former president and leader of its peaceful pro-democracy struggle, will be present.
Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold a private meeting with the royal couple in Berlin at the start of the German leg of their tour on Wednesday, and afterwards William and Kate will visit the Brandenburg Gate, a symbol of German unification.
The mood will change when the duke and duchess renew their friendly sporting rivalry, that seems to play a part in most of their trips, when they visit the picturesque Germany city of Heidelberg, twinned with Cambridge.
William and Kate will take to the waters of the River Neckar to cox opposing rowing teams in a race with crews from drawn from Cambridge and Heidelberg.
Source: DAILYMAIL MAILONLINE
Tags: Prince William, kate Middleton, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, Poland, Crowd, Street, People, Fans, People, Communist Rule, Poland’s Solidarity Movement, Stutthof concentration camp, 20th century histories
