King Charles will host South Africa’s president in first state visit as sovereign
King Charles will welcome South Africa’s president and first lady to Buckingham Palace for the first state visit of his reign.
The palace has confirmed that President Cyril Ramaphosa has accepted the invitation to come to the UK from 22-24 November. He will be joined by his wife, Tshepo Motsepe.
It is understood the visit was in the early stages of being planned before the Queen’s death in September.
It will effectively see the King and Queen Consort play host and usually includes a lavish state banquet, but full details will be released in the coming weeks.
Any decisions on who should be invited for state visits are made by the Foreign Office, and are seen as the ultimate diplomatic gift; they are an important way for the UK government to shore up relationships with countries that they see as strategically important for reasons such as trade or security.
The Queen’s last state visit was playing host to US president Donald Trump in 2019.
A visit from Japan in 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read more:
The Queen through the years – a life of service in pictures
What was the Queen doing when you were born?
Six moments that defined the Queen’s reign
The King has visited South Africa on a number of occasions since his first tour of the country, which included Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, in 1997.
His last trip was in 2011, along with the Queen Consort, then the Duchess of Cornwall
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa
The three-day state visit comes as Mr Ramaphosa faces allegations of money laundering in South Africa.
The president has denied the accusations, which include illegally holding around four million dollars in cash at his game ranch in northern South Africa and covering up its theft in an attempt to hide the existence of the money.
The scandal has proved a major blow to his image as a leader committed to stamping out corruption in South Africa.
Later today the King and Queen Consort will carry out their first official engagements since royal mourning for Queen Elizabeth II came to an end.
Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts
Two weeks since his mother’s funeral the King, and Camilla, will visit Dunfermline in Scotland to mark its new city status.
It is one of eight towns that have become cities to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Their Majesties will also host a reception for members of British South Asian communities at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.
A man’s body has been recovered from an area of flooding in North Yorkshire, police have said, as major incidents have been declared in two counties.
The body was found near Intake Lane in Beal, close to Eggborough and Knottingley.
Police believe the man may have entered the water in the last 24 to 48 hours.
Follow the latest on the weather
North Yorkshire Police said: “Despite extensive enquiries, including with our colleagues in Humberside and West Yorkshire Police, we have been unable to identify him.
“He was found without any identification or personal belongings.”
The man was also described as white, in his early 50s to 60s, with light brown short hair and stubble.
He was wearing brown walking boots, blue denim jeans, a multicoloured knitted jumper and possibly a dark green waterproof coat, police added.
It comes after Leicestershire and Lincolnshire both declared a major incident in response to the extreme weather hitting the UK and Ireland.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue was the first emergency service in England to declare an incident and said it had received more than 200 calls since Monday morning over widespread flooding.
Crews had found cars stuck in floodwater and evacuated residents from flooded homes and rising waters, with some 17 people rescued as of 1.45pm.
The Lincolnshire Resilience Forum declared a major incident shortly after, and noted that emergency services had rescued children who were stranded at a school in Edenham.
Meanwhile, the Met Office has three yellow weather warnings – each for snow and ice – in effect throughout Monday evening and Tuesday morning.
Pic: Met Office
A warning covering the west and north coast of Scotland – reaching into Inverness and Aberdeen – will last until midday, while an alert in effect for all of Northern Ireland will last until 11am.
The Met Office has also issued a warning covering Wales and parts of northwest England on Monday evening, moving into southwest England, the Midlands and parts of southern England in the early hours of Tuesday.
On Wednesday, a yellow weather warning for snow is in effect across the south of England – stretching from just above Truro in Cornwall to Canterbury in Kent – from 9am to midnight.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports9 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway