April 28, 2022: Florestan's First
Royal Engagement
A day after announcing their plans to marry, Claudine and Florestan attended their first official royal engagement together as a couple.
The couple started their afternoon by visiting West London Welcome, a community centre which supports refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and other locals living in West London.
The couple went to the centre to see first-hand the opportunities that are made to those whom they support.
Working together with local people, West London Welcome provides community support and advice, English classes, a foodbank, clothing, childcare, and social and creative activities.
West London Welcome supports 650 people from over 50 different nationalities each month and has over 60 volunteers.
They also learned about World Jewish Relief.
Established in 1933, World Jewish Relief supports community recovery after war and natural disasters.
Over the past 30 years, the charity has been working in Ukraine and is currently prioritising humanitarian support for those - irrespective of religion - who remain in the country.
Since February, World Jewish Relief has assisted over 25,000 Ukrainians with lifesaving assistance, supplied 332 tonnes of aid, over 55,000 food and hygiene packs and 8 million doses of medicine.
The couple met with staff and fundraisers who have been key in delivering support to Ukraine.
The pair later visited Broadcasting House to mark the 90th anniversary of the BBC World Service.
During a tour of the building, Claudine expressed admiration for journalists reporting in the most difficult of circumstances.
Speaking to the BBC's Lyse Doucet and Clive Myrie, Florestan said he had watched them shivering on the roofs during their recent broadcasts from Kyiv, Ukraine.
The couple also met journalists from the Ukrainian service, some of whom were forced to leave the country.
Ukrainian journalist Olga Malchevska, who viewed pictures of her shelled family home while on air at the start of the war, presented Caludine with a drawing by her son and nephew, who fled to the UK after their home was bombed.
The drawing, described by Claudine as marvellous, pictured the Union and Ukrainian flags side by side.
Claudine and Florestan also spoke via video call to the BBC's Russia editor Steve Rosenberg as he travelled from St Petersburg to Moscow by train, and chief correspondent Ben Brown who was on a rooftop in Kyiv.
Elsewhere, they heard from reporters and producers from BBC Pashto.
They were shown round a TV studio by presenter Sana Safi, who also demonstrated delivering a news bulletin.
Princess Claudine✅
@PrincessClaudine
Reaching an audience of around 364 million people weekly, @BBCWorldService delivers global news content in English and 41 other languages via Radio, TV and Digital.
Her Royal Highness and His Serene Highness visited BBC World Service to hear how they are continuing to report from Ukraine, Russia and Afghanistan.
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