Belgiums King Philippe and Queen Mathilde will make an official visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo in June. The visit will take place from Tuesday 7 to Monday 13 June, according to a statement from presidential aide Guylain Nyembo. The royals will be accompanied by Belgian government ministers. They will visit the capital Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Bukavu. The trip was initially scheduled for March 2022, but was cancelled because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In June 2020, King Philippe expressed his deepest regrets to the Democratic Republic of Congo for his countrys colonial abuses. It was the first time a Belgian monarch had formally expressed remorse for what happened during the countrys colonial rule. Belgium controlled the central African country from the 19th Century until it won its independence in 1960. Millions of Africans died during the bloody colonial rule.
