NEWLY-CROWNED British monarch King Charles III has expressed his desire to travel to the Philippines, according to Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom Teodoro Locsin Jr.
“He hopes to visit the Philippines soon,” Locsin said on Twitter after he submitted his credentials as ambassador to the King at Buckingham Palace on May 16.
According to the Philippine Embassy in the UK, Locsin was the first Head of Mission and first Philippine Ambassador to present his credentials following the coronation of the new monarch last May 6.
Accompanying Locsin was his wife Maria Lourdes Barcelon-Locsin.
If the King’s visit pushes through, this won’t be the first time he would step foot in the Philippines.
Back in 1997, then Prince Charles made a 10-hour visit to the country and met with the late former President Fidel V. Ramos at Malacañang Palace. According to reports, the former prince’s trip was to affirm East Asia’s political and commercial importance to Britain following the handover of Hong Kong to China after 156 years of British rule.
For Prince Charles’ 10-hour Manila visit, Ramos ordered a special clean-up of the stretch of the polluted Manila Bay where the Britannia arrived.
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Marcos and the King
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his wife First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos met King Charles III earlier this month when they flew to the UK for the monarch’s coronation.
The King asked after his “friend,” former First Lady Imelda Marcos, “and recounted fond memories of the time they shared together,” said Marcos.
The two world leaders aren’t exactly strangers to each other, having met on occasions in the past.
The now 65-year-old Philippine President studied in the UK’s Worth Prep School and Oxford University, where he received a Special Diploma in Social Studies.
Locsin also said in an earlier interview that the President and the King know each other because they used to play the sport polo together.
Marcos earlier expressed intent to return to the UK for a “proper visit” as discussions were short during his recent trip.
PH and UK ties
The Philippines and the UK have had diplomatic relations since 1946, and members of the British Royal family have visited the country since the 1980s.
Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth, traveled to the country in 1980 to meet with Imelda Marcos for a Manila state banquet. It made headlines in 2020 after their encounter was made into a scene in the fourth season of The Crown, a historical drama about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
Prince Andrew, the Queen’s third child, made a two-day trip to Manila in 1996 also to meet with Ramos.
Princess Anne, the Queen’s only daughter, visited Manila twice, in 1999 and in 2015.
