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The Prince of Wales commemorated, on Wednesday, the heroes that died fighting for Romania, in a solemn ceremony taking place at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Park Carol I, where he laid a wreath of poppies brought from the United Kingdom especially for this event. The ceremony started at 16:35, when a convoy of cars brought Prince Charles in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Sober and very elegant, Prince Charles was met by the Commander of the Bucharest Garrison, Col. Dorel Bejan, and by the British Military Attache, Lt. Col. Tim Bakewell of the Royal Navy. The ceremony started with the intonation of the national anthems of Romania and the United Kingdom, the moment being followed up by saluting the Battle Flag.
The central moment of this solemn ceremony was when Prince Charles laid a wreath of poppies at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The wreath, brought especially from the United Kingdom for this event, was handed to Prince Charles by a soldier and laid at the base of the tomb after which the Prince of Wales took a moment of recollection, bringing homage to the heroes fallen in combat.
After laying the wreath, His Royal Highness signed the guest book of the monument in Park Carol I. Towards the end of the ceremony, Prince Charles exchanged a few words with three British officers that work at the two NATO locations in Bucharest. Later, the Prince of Wales left the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, moving towards the Cotroceni Presidential Palace, where he was welcomed, at 17:00 hrs, by President Klaus Iohannis.
Around 60 servicemen with the 30th Honor Guard Brigade "Michael the Brave" participated in the solemn ceremony in Park Carol I, which lasted nearly 10 minutes, but also the Ambassador of the United Kingdom in Bucharest, Paul Brummell, and the Ambassador of Romania in London, Dan Mihalache. Furthermore, several dozen parents with children witnessed the event, some of them stating that they came especially for the ceremony to see Prince Charles, whom they admire. "I have an admiration towards the British Royal Family. I much admire their stateliness, as that of beautiful times past," said Viorica, who was joined at the ceremony by Erica, her niece, aged 3. In their turn, Adriana and Felicia, two youths who happened to be in Park Carol I, witnessed the ceremony, being curious to see Prince Charles. "We like the British Royal Family and the event drew us in," they stated.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is dedicated to the soldiers who lost their lives fighting for Romania. On May 17, 1923, the coffin bearing the Unknown Soldier, a symbol of all those who sacrificed their lives during the war, was buried in the crypt in Park Carol with military honours, in the presence of the Royal Family, the Government, the members of Parliament and a large crowd. In the night of December 22/23, 1958, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was dismantled and secretly moved to the Marasesti Mausoleum by the Communist Regime, in order to make room for the Mausoleum of Communist Heroes, where several leaders of the regime were later interred. In 1991, the Tomb was moved back to Park Carol. The solemn ceremony in Park Carol was the first event of the official visit to Romania of the Prince of Wales. The official visit of Prince Charles in Romania will conclude on Friday. In an interview with Agerpres last week, UK ambassador in Bucharest Paul Brummell said the visit by Prince Charles, a huge friend and admirer of Romania, is about celebrating and underlining the strength of the bilateral ties between the two countries. This visit, he added, is about celebrating and underlining the strength of our bilateral ties.
"I think that is really the underpinning message of his visit is that it will be a celebration of the amazingly diverse ways in which British and Romanian people and organizations are working together to do really good things," Brummell said.
