Reception with the Federal President: How a photo from the F.A.Z. became a gift from the state
In the picture: King Charles III speaks at the state banquet, next to him the gift from the Federal President, a childhood photo from Charles’ first visit to Germany. Picture: dpa#Two years ago, a previously unknown snapshot of Charles and his father appeared in the F.A.Z. The picture did not go unnoticed – and was presented to the British king at the state banquet.
‘A picture is sometimes worth a thousand words. But this one, the picture within a picture, so to speak, needs to be explained in more detail. Also because it found its way to Bellevue Palace in Berlin and to Charles’ side via this newspaper page.
A few days after the death of Prince Philip two years ago, ¬Rainer Holbe wrote a memoir of “Her Royal Highness” that goes back to 1962. At the time, Holbe was a trainee at the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper and happened to be in the right place at the right time with photographer Kurt Weiner.
Only the two of them knew that Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was coming to Hesse on a family visit with the then 13-year-old heir to the throne, Charles. Holbe, who made German television history years later with his “Star Parade” on ZDF, experienced the “highlight of my journalistic career to date” on the tarmac at Frankfurt Airport, as he recalls.
“I’m Philip!” Philip simply introduced himself to him at the time. Holbe pulled out his camera and snapped the picture. One of the pictures, albeit slightly cropped, appeared in this newspaper on 13 April 2021 in honor of the Prince Consort, who had died four days earlier.
And it did not go unnoticed. A few days ago, the Office of the Federal President remembered the photographic memory and asked for a print. The idea: Charles, now King, was to be presented with an unknown snapshot of his very first of more than 40 visits to Germany, also as a sign of the long friendship that connects him with our country.
But things turned out to be more difficult than expected. Firstly, the rights were held by the photographer, Holbe, and secondly, the picture, which the F.A.Z. naturally included in the archive, had been slightly cropped. So the original had to be found. But it was difficult to make contact, and in the meantime even the Foreign Office got involved. The state banquet would obviously have been inconceivable without the picture as a gift.
It’s a good thing that Holbe lives in Frankfurt, so an archivist could simply drop by his home in Sachsenhausen. The 83-year-old former TV presenter liked the idea, took the photo from the wall and entrusted it to the F.A.Z. a second time.
It was framed in the picture department, scanned and forwarded to the Office of the Federal President. Two versions were then produced there : a large picture, which stood next to the speaker’s podium for all to see at the state banquet, and a much smaller one, set in silver, which the Federal President personally presented to the visibly moved Charles.
The MÖHRLE SILBER GERMANY team is delighted that this silver frame was made in our manufactory.
You can find the original article from the F.A.Z. by Peter-Philipp Schmitt HERE.
