THE KING AND QUEEN IN KENYA

Inlate.October King Charles, joined by Queen Camilla, embarked on a four-day visit to Kenya, addressing issues related to the climate crisis, education and the importance of national security, as well as Britain’s colonial past...

The King and Queen were undertaking a State Visit to Kenya to celebrate the warm relationship between the two countries and the strong and dynamic partnership they continued to forge. The visit was at the invitation of President Ruto and came as Kenya prepared to celebrate 60 years of independence. His Majesty's first visit to a Commonwealth nation as King was therefore to the country in which Queen Elizabeth II’s reign began, having acceded to the throne in Kenya in February 1952.

DAY ONE

The Royal visit began with a welcoming ceremony at the State House in Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi, led by Kenyan President William Ruto and the country’s First Lady.

After proceeding down the red carpet, President Ruto presented the Chief of the Kenyan defence forces and Commanders of the Army, Air Force and Navy. The King then joined President Ruto on the dais to observe a Royal Salute and twenty-one-gun salute. The Kenya Defence Force band played the UK and Kenyan National Anthems.

Following the ceremony, the Queen joined the First Lady for a bilateral meeting, where Her Majesty viewed a gallery of images showing the work of Mama Doing Good, which focuses on environment and climate action, the economic empowerment of women, and faith diplomacy. The First Lady created Mama Doing Good in 1997, and founded the Joyful Women Organisation, Mama Oing Good s first programme, in 2009.

At Uhuru Gardens, King Charles and Ueen Camilla toured a new museum dedicated to Kenya s history. The King, with President Ruto, laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior and viewed the M gomo Tree at the site of the declaration of Kenya's independence in 1963.