Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
KING Charles’s first foreign trip since his Coronation is set to be a walking holiday in Dracula country.
Charles, 74, will fly to Romania next month where he owns at least ten properties and is a descendant of national hero, Vlad the Impaler.
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President Klaus Iohannis will officially welcome Charles at Cotroceni Palace, his residence in the capital Bucharest.
But the trip will mostly be a short holiday in Transylvania and without Queen Camilla, it is understood.
Vlad the Impaler, a 15th Century warrior also known as Vlad Dracula, claimed to have killed 23,000 people in battles against the Ottoman Empire.
His given name is the inspiration behind Bram Stoker’s book about the vampire Count.
King Charles is believed to be Vlad’s great-grandson 16 times removed through King George V’s consort Queen Mary.
Charles visits Romania in May or June most years to walk in hills and paint near his home in Viscri.
He has spoken fondly of relaxing in the Carpathian Mountains saying the land is “in my blood”.
He once said: “There is a sense of age-old continuity here. A virtuous circle where man and nature are in balance.”
Charles and Camilla relaxed at Sandringham, Norfolk, for a few days last week after the Coronation.
The newly-crowned couple are set to take an official trip together to Kenya this year.
A postponed state visit to France is expected to be rearranged for this summer.
He cancelled his annual ski trip to Klosters in the Swiss Alps in March for the first time in 45 years amid fears he could break bones ahead of the Coronation.