King Charles will miss Prince Harry’s visit to London next week as he goes on a solo five-day hiking trip in Transylvania
King Charles will miss Prince Harry‘s visit to London next week because he is going on a five-day solo hiking trip to Transylvania.
The Duke of Sussex will return to the High Court early next month as he sues Mirror Group Newspapers over allegations of phone hacking.
The monarch’s five-day stay in the Transylvanian countryside will coincide with his Harry’s rare visit, meaning father and son are unlikely to meet.
It follows Harry’s flying visit for his father’s Coronation, which saw him spend just 28 hours and 42 minutes in the UK before flying home to California.
The King will travel to Romania next week for his first overseas trip since being crowned. He will not be accompanied by Queen Camilla, who is staying at Highgrove, their Gloucestershire residence.
Prince Harry (seen at the Coronation) will be in London next month but will not see his father, King Charles, who will be in Transylvania
King Charles hiking on his annual trip to the Transylvanian countryside last year
The monarch owns at least 10 properties in Romania, and it has become an annual tradition for Charles to visit the country for a walking holiday.
His trip will take place over five days next week, reports the Telegraph.
In the past, Charles has spoken fondly of the country and his time in the Carpathian Mountains, saying the land is ‘in his blood’.
He said during his visit last June: ‘There is a sense of age-old continuity here. A virtuous circle where man and nature are in balance.’
Charles has familial ties with Transylvania, thought to be a descendent of Vlad the Impaler – also known as Vlad Dracula – who claimed to have killed 23,000 people during battles against the Ottoman Empire.
The real-life Dracula’s name is said to have given inspiration for Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel.
The monarch’s maternal great-great-great grandmother, Klaudia Rhedey, was also born and brought up in the region.
Klaudia, a Hungarian speaker, married into German royalty and was known as the Princess of Teck. Her granddaughter, Queen Mary, was wife to George V and Charles’s great-grandmother.
The King owns ten properties throughout the Romanian region, which he bought in the late 1990s. Pictured: His holiday home in Viscri
The monarch has spoken fondly of the country saying it’s ‘in his blood’
Charles bought his estate in Valea Zalanului, Szeklerland, in the 1990s and now rents it out as a nature retreat to those wanting to explore the Zalán Valley and the surrounding mountains.
The guest house he will stay at is situated near to the village of Viscri, and is decorated with traditional antique Transylvanian furniture and textiles.
There are no televisions or radios in any of the rooms, just books, and guests are expected to dine together.
Daily activities on offer include horse riding, walks through a wildflower meadow named after Prince George, and trips to the nearby mineral pools.
The King has visited Romania numerous times and set up the Prince of Wales Foundation Romania to support the development of farming, traditional skills and the preservation of historic buildings.
Prices range from about £100 to £300 a night depending on the size of room and whether or not guests have chosen full or half-board.
Charles is thought to be an indirect descendant of Vlad the Impaler, also known as Vlad Dracula – whose name gave inspiration to Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel
