British royal couple to pay three-day visit to Hungary next week

Climate change, environmental and cultural-heritage protection will feature on the programme the Prince and Princess of Wales, who are visiting Hungary on March 17-20.

The royal couple are going on a tour of Central Europe and will stop in Hungary at the invitation of President Laszlo Solyom.

Solyom will receive Charles and Camilla on March 17 and organise a gala dinner in the Mirror Room of the Sandor Palace.

The couple's programme will extend beyond the capital -- they are set to visit Szentendre (north of Budapest) and Pecel (to the east).

On Thursday, they will visit the Synagogue in Dohany street and light a candle in remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust.

In the morning Camilla will pay a visit and view an exhibition and a play at the Zsigmond Moricz secondary school in the art town of Szentendre, while Prince Charles and Solyom will visit the city's Regional Environmental Centre and meet leaders of environmental organisations. The guests will learn about Hungary's folk culture and regions at the Skanzen, just outside Szentendre.

In the afternoon, Charles will meet young scientists at the Academy of Sciences, then attend a conference by the Corporate Leaders Group on climate change. At the end of their daily programmes, the couple will view a film called "On the path of my Roma roots" and meet members of the Roma folk band Kalyi Jag and Roma journalists.

On Friday, Charles will lay a wreath by a memorial for the martyrs of Hungary's failed 1956 anti-Soviet revolution and engage in a small gathering with Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai in parliament.

Camilla will visit a children's clinic while her husband, accompanied by Tamas Mezos, the head of the Cultural Heritage Office, will visit the Raday Palace in Pecel, where a discussion will be held on cultural heritage issues.

Prince Charles will then attend a rehearsal for the "Music Against Racism" campaign on the Millennium Cultural Centre. The day will end at the British Embassy Residence, where folk singer Marta Sebestyen will entertain the distinguished guests.

Charles and Camilla will continue their journey to Prague on March 20.

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