King Charles visits Romania

After being received with military honours at the Romanian capital Bucharest, King Charles visited Transylvania.

The King walks down a street in the village of Valea Zalanului, Romania. Picture: AFP

After being received with military honours at the Romanian capital Bucharest, King Charles visited Transylvania – a region the king has said is in his “blood” as a ­descendant of Vlad the Impaler.

The King has frequently praised the charms of picturesque Transylvania in central Romania, where he has bought several traditional houses and set up a heritage foundation.

A long-time environmental advocate with a passion for ­nature, the King has called Transylvania “literally the last unspoilt, untouched area”.

As part of his first overseas visit since he was crowned king on May 6, he headed to the village of Valea Zalanului, 100km away from the hamlet of Viscri, where he will wrap up his trip on Tuesday.

As prince, Charles first visited Viscri in 1998.

Dan Spataru from the local mayor’s office said his return to the region was being welcomed as an “emotional gesture”.

A man and his horse-drawn cart pass the gate to the property of King Charles in the Romanian village of Valea Zalanului. Picture: AFP

But in contrast to earlier visits, his trip as a newly crowned king took on a “more formal, official” nature amid heightened security.

“We are sorry because the ­atmosphere was more relaxed ­before. Now it’s a little stiffer,” Mr Spataru said of the tightened ­security protocol in place. “Until 10 years ago Charles would walk around, go inside the villagers’ courtyards, discover, without someone protecting him,” guesthouse-owner Alexandru Toader said.

“Now he can no longer do that because every time he comes it is highly publicised.”

The 37-year-old said in the past few weeks, authorities had even questioned him about the guests he was about to receive as part of security protocols.

The King bought his first house in Viscri in 2016, attracted by the region’s dirt tracks, horse-drawn carriages and brightly-coloured houses nestled in green hills.

Initially intended as an occasional princely residence, it was later transformed into a museum dedicated to botany, another of the new King’s lifelong passions.

In Bucharest the royal environmentalist praised Romania for still being “home to many species of flora and fauna that have disappeared or are threatened elsewhere in Europe and the world”.

Under the King’s sponsorship, the Mihai Eminescu Trust foundation has renovated several properties in Transylvania with traditional methods and materials to preserve the heritage.

Trust president Caroline Fernolend said it was “a unique ­moment to receive a king in our community” and was grateful that Charles honoured the work done “all these years”.

Ms Fernolend said there had been no need to spruce up the village in anticipation of the King’s visit. “We won’t prettify anything, the beauty is already there,” she said, adding that the value of ­Viscri lies in its “people and the ­existing heritage”.

At the reception in Bucharest on Friday, the King said he had “always felt rather at home in Romania” in a reference to his links to infamous Vlad the Impaler through his great-grandmother Queen Mary.

According to Mr Spataru, the King had always had a particular “soul connection” with Transylvania. “When he comes here, he unwinds, he smiles more – he is no longer the official, rigorous man,” he said.

AFP