Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako bid farewell to King Charles and Queen Camilla on Thursday, marking the end of the three-day official portion of their weeklong visit to Britain.
The emperor visited Windsor Castle in a London suburb later in the day and laid flowers on the tombs of Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip.
"The queen extended the most generous hospitality to me. I paid a visit as a token of my heartfelt appreciation," the emperor told reporters at the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens after the trip to the castle.
Queen Elizabeth had close relations with the Japanese imperial family for decades, and invited him to Buckingham Palace in the 1980s when he was studying at Oxford University as the grandson of Emperor Hirohito, posthumously known as Emperor Showa.
The visit by Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako to Britain was initially planned for 2020, but canceled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The queen died in 2022.
The imperial couple, who arrived in the country last Saturday and will stay through Friday, began their state visit on Tuesday, marking the first such visit since then Emperor Akihito's in 1998.
On the opening day, the couple traveled to the Horse Guards Parade, where the king and the emperor inspected a guard of honor, and the royal party then traveled up the Mall ceremonial route in horse-drawn carriages to Buckingham Palace.
That evening, the emperor and empress attended a state banquet at the palace hosted by the king and queen, where both reigning monarchs gave speeches.
On Wednesday, the emperor visited the Francis Crick Institute, Britain's flagship biomedical research center, and the Royal College of Music before attending a banquet at Guildhall hosted by the Lord Mayor and City of London Corporation.
With the official program over, the imperial couple will on Friday visit Oxford University, where they separately studied before marriage, before heading home later in the day.
The state visit to Britain marked the Japanese couple's second goodwill trip overseas since Emperor Naruhito ascended the throne in May 2019, following an official trip to Indonesia in June 2023.
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