King Charles ‘saddened by Cyprus’ continued division’

King Charles reportedly “expressed sadness that the island remains divided and hoped for a resolution soon” during a conversation with a Cypriot social entrepreneur at a Commonwealth reception at St James’ Palace. Founder of Fashion Heritage Network Cyprus, Christina Dymioti attended the event last week as a Global Youth Leader with the Commonwealth Trust. The reception was hosted by the King and Queen Camilla and attended by high commissioners and representatives of Commonwealth organisations. According to Dymioti, while “most guests received only a brief greeting, Dymioti held a longer conversation with the King” in regard to her work. She said she told him her youth-led non-profit uses sustainable fashion to bring young people from both Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities together through a “shared creative purpose”. When asked by the King how bicommunal works were progressing, Dymioti informed him that she sits on Cyprus’ first bicommunal Technical Committee on Youth, to which she was appointed by President Nikos Christodoulides. The King reportedly congratulated her and “encouraged her team to continue”, which Dymioti said hearing such commendation “means everything to me and to our team”. Dymioti talking to Queen Camilla at St James’ Palace Photo: @ianjonesphotos Dymioti is the only youth representative from the diaspora on the committee, which works directly with the United Nations. She won the Culture & Arts Award at the Cyprus Diaspora Forum in 2024 and was a finalist in the PwC Women of the Future Awards UK last year. King Charles has never made an official visit to Cyprus as either king or Prince of Wales. He and Queen Camilla were due to visit in 2020, in what would have been their first joint visit to the island, as well as the first royal visit outside the British bases since Queen Elizabeth in 1993. Clarence House postponed the tour days beforehand after the British government asked the couple to delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, though no successive Cyprus visit was ever rescheduled.