The King has warned that peace must “never be taken for granted” during a historic address to Italy’s parliament, the first by a British monarch. Reflecting on the Second World War and current conflicts, he said younger generations “can see in the news every day on their smartphones and tablets that peace is never to be taken for granted.” Report by Covellm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00Presidente del Senato e della Camera dei Deputati,
00:06membri del Governo, Senatori, Deputati, Autorità, Signore e Signori,
00:16sono enormemente onorato di essere stato invitato qui oggi
00:23e molto grato al Presidente Mattarella per il suo gentile invito
00:31a compiere una visita di Stato in Italia.
00:38È molto importante per la Regina e per me tornare in Italia
00:47per la nostra prima visita dopo l'incornazione.
00:52Il momento è ancora più speciale per entrambi,
01:00dato che oggi ricorre anche il nostro ventesimo anniversario di matrimonio.
01:08Grazie.
01:10Applausi.
01:12Above all, it is a signal honor to have been asked to speak to you all this afternoon.
01:24The first time that a British Sovereign has addressed the entire Italian Parliament,
01:32this fundamental democratic institution.
01:36Italy is, as I hope you know, a country very dear to my heart and that of the Queen,
01:46as it is to so many of our countrymen and women.
01:49I have made 18 official visits over the past 40 years to the Bell Paesi.
01:58It has been one of the pleasures of my life to come to know this irresistible country.
02:05And from Turin to Palermo, Verona to Naples, Florence to Trieste,
02:11I have learned a little more about this nation and have come to admire it even more.
02:18Like any old friend, I have been with you at happier moments and sadder moments in your national life.
02:30For instance, I will never forget my visit to Venice with the Queen in 2009,
02:37where we saw the magnificently restored La Fenice Opera House or to Amatrizia in 2017 in the aftermath of that tragic earthquake.
02:52So I am here today, ladies and gentlemen, with one purpose,
02:57to reaffirm the deep friendship between the United Kingdom and Italy
03:03and to pledge to do all in my power to strengthen that friendship even further in the time that is granted to me as King.
03:17Our ties go back over two millennia to those ancient Roman visitors who arrived on our windswept shores.
03:27It was the Romans who gave Britons the idea of putting a king's head on coins.
03:36So I am especially grateful to them.
03:48My own coronation in Westminster Abbey took place on the famous Cosmati pavement
03:55laid by British and Italian craftsmen in 1268, a shared foundation indeed.
04:04And another foundation in which Britain is proud to have played its part
04:09is the support our country lent to the unification of Italy.
04:15As Garibaldi landed near Massala in Sicily in May 1860,
04:20two Royal Navy warships stood watch.
04:25Garibaldi was, as you know, hugely admired in Britain.
04:30When he visited in 1864 to thank the British people for their support,
04:36Garibaldi mania gripped the entire country.
04:41Some half a million people came to greet him in London.
04:45There was even a biscuit named after Garibaldi,
04:50the ultimate of British esteem.
04:57Many of the heroes of Italy's unification,
05:02including Cavour and Mazzini,
05:04spent time in the United Kingdom.
05:06Through the centuries,
05:09ever since,
05:11Italian merchants docked in Southampton
05:13in the 14th century,
05:16and moneylenders from northern Italy
05:18settled in the appropriately named
05:22Lombard Street in London.
05:25Our peoples have traded with each other,
05:28inspired each other,
05:30learnt from each other.
05:31From the wonders of the Renaissance
05:36to the Industrial Revolution
05:38to scientific pioneers such as Guillermo Marconi,
05:43who refined his genius in the UK
05:46before transforming the world.
05:50Nearly a third of Shakespeare's plays
05:53were set here in Italy,
05:56just as Italian artists
05:57have drawn inspiration from The Bard.
06:01And we have benefited hugely
06:05from your influence
06:07over what we wear,
06:09what we drink,
06:10and what we eat.
06:13I can only hope you will forgive us
06:16for occasionally corrupting
06:18your wonderful cuisine.
06:22We do so, I promise you,
06:23with the greatest possible affection.
06:25So, we are two peoples
06:30and two nations
06:31whose stories are deeply intertwined,
06:35including, of course,
06:37with that of our European continent.
06:40We are both, after all,
06:42European countries.
06:46Yesterday, I laid a wreath
06:48at the tomb of the unknown soldier.
06:51Inscribed on its marble
06:54are words recalling the British forces
06:56who fought alongside Italian forces
07:00in the First World War.
07:02In a few weeks' time,
07:04we will mark the 80th anniversary
07:06of the end of the Second World War
07:10in Europe.
07:11We will remember
07:14the terrible price of war
07:17and of the precious gift of peace.
07:21At Anzio and Monte Cassino last year
07:24and in Sicily the year before,
07:28we have remembered the British
07:30and Allied servicemen
07:31who gave their lives
07:33in the liberation of this country
07:3680 years before.
07:37Today, sadly,
07:48the echoes of those times
07:50which we fervently hoped
07:53had been consigned to history
07:56reverberate across our continent.
08:00Our younger generations
08:01could now see in the news
08:04every day
08:04on their smartphones
08:06and tablets
08:08that peace
08:09is never to be taken,
08:11never to be taken for granted.
08:14Britain and Italy
08:16stand today united
08:18in defence
08:19of the democratic values
08:21we share.
08:24Our countries
08:26have both stood by Ukraine
08:28in her hour of need
08:29and welcomed
08:31and welcomed
08:31many thousands of Ukrainians
08:33requiring shelter.
08:36Our armed forces
08:37stand side by side
08:39in NATO.
08:40We are grateful
08:42beyond measure
08:43for the role Italy plays
08:45in hosting key NATO bases
08:48and taking a leading role
08:50in so many overseas operations.
08:53In just a few weeks' time,
08:57the Royal Navy's
08:58Carrier Strike Group,
09:00led by the aircraft carrier
09:02HMS Prince of Wales,
09:04will exercise
09:06alongside Italian forces
09:08in the Mediterranean,
09:10a powerful symbol
09:12of our cooperation.
09:15So, too,
09:17is our project
09:18to build
09:18our next-generation
09:20fighter aircraft
09:21together
09:22through the Global Combat
09:24Air Programme
09:25alongside Japan.
09:28It will generate
09:29thousands of jobs
09:30in our countries
09:31and speaks volumes
09:34about the trust
09:36we place
09:36in each other.
09:39We work closely together
09:42in the G7,
09:44as we did
09:45during your G7 presidency
09:47last year,
09:49whose ministerial meetings
09:50set a new record
09:52for energy
09:53and activism.
09:57Just as we stand
09:58together in defense
09:59of our values,
10:01so, too,
10:01we stand together
10:02in defense
10:03of our planet.
10:05From the droughts
10:06in Sicily
10:07to the floods
10:08in Somerset,
10:09both our countries
10:11are already seeing
10:12the ever-more damaging
10:14effects
10:15of climate change.
10:16climate change.
10:17The last time
10:18I spoke
10:19in this Parliament
10:20building
10:21was to a special
10:23meeting devoted
10:24to climate change.
10:26I can hardly believe
10:28it is 16 years ago now.
10:33So,
10:34I hope you will
10:34forgive me
10:35for saying
10:36that the warnings
10:36I offered
10:37then
10:38about the urgency
10:40of the climate challenge
10:41are depressingly
10:42being borne out
10:44by events.
10:46Extreme storms,
10:48normally seen
10:49once in a generation,
10:52now characterize
10:53every year.
10:56Countless
10:56precious plant
10:58and animal species
10:59face extinction
11:01in our lifetimes.
11:03So much
11:04is at stake.
11:07Italy's own
11:08natural heritage
11:09is blessed
11:10with extraordinary
11:11riches.
11:13Indeed,
11:14Italy remains
11:14home
11:15to the highest
11:17number of animal
11:18species in Europe.
11:21Perhaps
11:22Rome's
11:23greatest poet,
11:24Virgil,
11:26understood
11:27profoundly
11:27the respect
11:28that was due
11:29to nature.
11:31He was,
11:32it might be said,
11:32the father
11:33of sustainable
11:34farming,
11:36a cause
11:36I have supported
11:37my whole life.
11:38in his Georgics,
11:40he spoke
11:41about respecting
11:42the natural
11:43cycles
11:43of the land,
11:45the importance
11:46of pollination
11:47by bees,
11:49soil conservation
11:50and even
11:51the value
11:52of composting
11:52and organic matter.
11:55For example,
11:56this from
11:57a well-known
11:58Italian translation
11:59of book one.
12:00Why do you
12:03not
12:04saturate
12:05the land
12:06arid
12:07with grass
12:09and letami
12:09so
12:11also
12:11moving
12:12to
12:13the culture
12:15I
12:16campi
12:17riposano
12:18e
12:19fratanto
12:20sebbene
12:22inerrata
12:23la terra
12:24ti darà
12:26il suo frutto.
12:28Aplausos
12:31Aplausos
12:32Aplausos
12:33Aplausos