Day 2 in Greece #RoyalVisitGreece

by - May 15, 2018

On their second day May 10th, The Prince of Wales met with Archbishop Ieronymos II at the Archbishop's Palace in Athens. His Royal Highness was led to a room full of paintings of former archbishops of Athens and was welcomed by other Greek bishops. The Archbishop said: "Welcome to the land of half of your ancestors." His Royal Highness was given an icon of the Virgin Mary as a gift from the Archbishop.

Later The Prince of Wales met with The Duchess of Cornwall went for walkabout in the Kapnikarea area of central Athens and stopped for refreshments. After visiting the 11th Century Church of St Eirini and the stalls of St Eirini Square, Their Royal Highnesses tried traditional Greek coffee in a local cafe.

Afterwards, they visited stalls with local delicacies including loukoumades, traditional Greek doughnuts, and koulouri, traditional Greek pretzels, before heading to the Byzantine Church of Kapnikarea the final stop on the tour.

After The Prince and The Duchess then arrived at the Commonwealth War Graves site where they were greeted by Captain Tim Ferns, the UK Defence Attache. They gathered for a short ceremony and shared a minute's silence after the sound of a trumpet. His Royal Highness  then laid a wreath on a tomb at the site which displayed the message: "Their name liveth for evermore."

Before departing, Their Royal Highnesses met dignitaries and guests before receiving a short tour of the cemetery and a walking inspection of the Hellenic Armed Forces Honour Guard. The Prince met 101-year-old war veteran, Themistocles Marinos MBE, who had received eight Greek medals - including a Gold Gallantry Cross, Military Cross and Distinguished Services Medal and described him as a "remarkable" man.

They later separated with The Duchess of Cornwall going on to visit the Kaisariani Monastery, where she read a passage from Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone to a group of schoolchildren.

When asked what her favourite book was, The Duchess responded: "When I was very young, which was 100 years ago, I used to love the books of Rudyard Kipling." The children then surprised Her Royal Highness by acting out the scene she had just read to them, before handing her a painting they had done of the Hogwarts Express.

She later also spent time at a women’s shelter to hear the stories of women who have been affected by issues including domestic abuse and violence. The shelter provides free housing, counselling and emergency support to women and children. The services are available to anyone living in Greece. The children who live at the shelter gave Her Royal Highness a beautiful posey before she departed.

Their Royal Highnesses finished the day at The British Ambassador's Residence where they attended a reception to celebrate the different facets of the strong bilateral relationships between Britain and Greece. Guests representing a variety of areas and industries were present, including business, archaeology, security, tourism, media and religion.
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