Prince Charles visits Czech Republic
Prince Charles arrived in Prague on Monday for his first visit to the Czech Republic in six years. During his three-day visit, the Prince of Wales will concentrate primarily on activities connected with the Prague Heritage Fund, a foundation His Royal Highness founded in conjunction with Czech President Vaclav Havel. Lucie Krupickova has more:
According to Vaclav Havel, he and Prince Charles share similar opinions concerning ancient monuments and urban development. During Prince Charles' second official visit to Prague in December 1992, their mutual interests contributed to the establishment of the Prague Heritage Fund. The aim of the foundation is to preserve valuable architectural monuments for future generations. The first reconstruction project supported by the fund was the successful restoration of the Ledeburg and Palffy gardens at Prague Castle. The Prague Heritage Fund donated two hundred thousand pounds, or 8.8 million Czech crowns, towards the reconstruction of the gardens and Prince Charles himself contributed eighty thousand pounds, or more than 3.5 million Czech crowns.
The idea to establish the foundation was formed during Prince Charles' first visit to Czechoslovakia in 1991. During that visit, Prince Charles introduced the Business Leaders Forum to the country, which is an apolitical organisation of entrepreneurs from all over the world. The Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum works closely with the World Heritage Fund on the development of tourism linked to the protection of historical sights.
The second day of His Royal Highness' visit to the Czech Republic centred around Moravia. This included a visit to the Military Academy in Vyskov, where Prince Charles was due to meet with British military trainers and advisers for Central and Eastern Europe, who began working there quite recently. Later in the afternoon, Prince Charles' schedule included returning to Prague to meet with Czech war veterans who fought in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.
Tuesday is the last day of Prince Charles' official visit to the Czech Republic, as on Wednesday morning he is due in neighbouring Slovakia.
