We reported earlier that King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort, were greeted with military honours at the Brandenburg Gate. They were met by President Steinmeier and first lady Elke Büdenbender.

The King inspected troops while a military band played. Before departing, King Charles spoke to members of the public - including a woman who gave him a gift for Highgrove House, his royal residence in Gloucestershire.

Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent

Image source, PA Media

The historic venue of Bellevue Palace is the setting for a very contemporary discussion about clean energy and climate change.

Berlin is a city full of visible reinvention - with preserved fragments of the Berlin Wall in new shopping malls.

And King Charles is hearing about ambitions for another type of regeneration, in the form of sustainability and green technology.

It’s also interesting how as monarch he is still pursuing the environmental causes that he campaigned for as Prince of Wales.

We should be hearing a speech later from King Charles and it wouldn’t be surprising if the environment was one of its themes.

Image source, Reuters

King Charles is at the Bellevue palace in Berlin this afternoon where he and President Steinmeier have been nurturing new relationships in the garden.

The pair were seen planting a tree after a Green Energy reception at the palace in Berlin, the official residence of the President of Germany.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort, have been welcomed to Schloss Bellevue presidential palace by President Steinmeier, where they signed the official guest book.

German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung earlier noted that the head of protocol at the palace has paid careful attention to the fountain pen the King will use to sign the guestbook.

It comes after the monarch's frustration with a leaking pen last year.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is hosting King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla during their first state visit.

Germany and Britain have opened a new chapter, Steinmeier said during a statement a little while ago.

He said the monarch's decision to pick Germany as the destination for his first state visit as king was an "important gesture for German-British relations".

"Today, on the day six years ago when Britain began its exit from the European Union, we are opening a new chapter in our relations," the German president added.

It's important to note that as we reported a little earlier, King Charles was due to visit France first. But because of ongoing protests against a pension reform across the country, Buckingham Palace called off the visit, which had been scheduled to begin on Sunday.

Daniela Relph
Royal correspondent, reporting from the Brandenburg Gate

As the King and Queen Consort did a short walkabout in front of the Brandenburg Gate, one group of schoolchildren found themselves up close and personal with royalty.

The teenage pupils of Georg Buechner Gymnasium came to see the royal party as they are a school with a strong focus on learning English

What they didn’t expect was to be able to talk to the King as freely and easily as things played out.

The King stopped in front of them and asked one student about her birthday, another about the weather and chatted to a group about learning English.

Helena was one of those who spoke to the King.

She told me she just hadn’t realised they would get as close to him and was shaking after the experience.

King Charles’s first state visit was supposed to be to France, but clashes between protesters and police over controversial pension reforms led to the trip being called off.

Downing Street said the request to postpone came from French President Emmanuel Macron who said "we would not be sensible and would lack common sense" to proceed with it amid the unrest.

The protests came after Macron's government decided to force through the reforms, which raise the pension age from 62 to 64 and extend contributions by workers to 43 years.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Under a cold grey Berlin sky King Charles arrived for a warm ceremonial greeting from President Steinmeier.

A military band played in front of the Brandenburg Gate, the symbolic heart of the German capital.

It’s a historic setting once associated with a divided city and then the country’s reunification, which was celebrated on the same spot in 1990.

Now it’s the scene of a carefully choreographed display of partnership between Britain and Germany.

After the anthems and formalities, the King and Queen Consort Camilla went to speak to some of the invited crowds gathered around the edge of the square.

But this was a symbolic modern moment, played out in front of ranks of cameras, surrounded by tight security.

And really capturing the zeitgeist there was even a drone flying low overhead.

Image source, Reuters

King Charles and President Steinmeier have made their way along the crowds who've lined the street to catch a glimpse of the British monarch.

The King takes time to exchange words with some of those closest to the barriers, many who are waving small German and UK flags, with a few Ukraine flags added to the mix.

He smiles and laughs while shaking hands with those gathered by the Brandenburg Gate while walking along with the German president.

Image source, Reuters

Following the German national anthem, King Charles and President Steinmeier have inspected the troops.

They are now talking to members of the public waiting there to greet them.

Image source, Reuters

Flags are waving in the crowds as King Charles and the German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier return their waves.

The German head of state is walking alongside the King, pointing towards buildings as they speak before stepping on the red carpet for the formal welcome.

The German military band have struck up and the Union flag has been raised to the sound of God Save the King.

Image source, Getty Images

King Charles has arrived at the Brandenburg Gate and shaken hands with the German President.

Camilla, the Queen Consort, is alongside him as they pose for photos.

Image source, Getty Images

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has arrived at the Brandenburg Gate alongside his first lady Elke Büdenbender.

He is inspecting the guard of honour and meeting some of the German Navy sailors who are awaiting King Charles.

Daniela Relph
Royal correspondent, reporting from the Brandenburg Gate

The King and Queen Consort are due here shortly and the military band’s musical choices will sound familiar to them.

They are distinctly British - Land of Hope and Glory and a collection of James Bond themes to entertain the waiting crowd - many of whom are wearing cardboard crowns on their head handed out by a well known fast food restaurant nearby.

Everything about events in the coming days point to the same main message - reinforcing Anglo-German relations.

And it all starts here beneath the Brandenburg Gate.

As King Charles's motorcade makes its way towards the Brandenburg Gate here are some pictures of the waiting crowds and the military personnel preparing to welcome them.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Crowds have gathered at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin as they await the arrival of Charles and Camilla this afternoon.

The landmark will be the backdrop for the royal couple's official welcome to Germany.

This is significant as it's the first time the Brandenburg Gate has been used to welcome any visiting head of state.

Perhaps the most iconic landmark in the German capital, the monument is a symbol of the country's division during the Cold War and subsequent reunification.

The 200-year-old gate was built as a monument to Prussian power and it embodied German unity until Hitler's defeat at the end of the Second World War.

It subsequently became one of the most potent symbols of Cold War division of Germany and of Europe.

In a message on their Twitter account, King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort, said they were looking forward to meeting those who made Germany "so special" and deepening the friendship between the nations.

A German version of the message was also posted.

The full message, external reads:

Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent

There is an extra significance attached to the first state visit of a reign and King Charles will be making his mark with this visit to Germany.

Such trips are carried out on behalf of the government and this is a bridge-building exercise to renew relations that have been strained by Brexit.

On Unter den Linden, the main road leading up to the Brandenburg Gate and around the square itself, the EU flag is flying conspicuously alongside the German and British flags.

There are plenty of ceremonial rituals on such visits, with bands and uniforms, but this is about the serious business of diplomacy, with the King being deployed as an emblem of friendship between the two countries.

And expect to hear about some of the themes concerning both countries – such as the war in Ukraine and the pressures of climate change.

Daniela Relph
Royal correspondent, reporting from the Brandenburg Gate

I've just watched the red carpet being stuck to the road in front of the Brandenburg Gate ready for the arrival of the King and Queen Consort this afternoon.

Germany is quite literally rolling out the red carpet for the King's first state visit.

He'll get the full ceremonial welcome here.

No post-war head of state has ever had one of those in Germany.

A first state visit has a bit of extra clout - the British government hopes it will help reinforce Anglo-German relations in a post Brexit world.

Image source, Reuters

The King has now stepped into the waiting royal limousine and it has begun to make its way - accompanied by a police escort - towards the Brandenburg Gate for the ceremonial welcome.