June 11, 2012 - 12:37 PM
BUCHAREST, Romania - Britain's Prince Charles has met with the leaders of Romania and used his visit to Bucharest to address hundreds of Britons and Romanians who gathered to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Charles told Monday's crowd that he hopes his love of Romania will remind them "what a special country it is, and what cultural values it has. "
Before arriving in Bucharest, the prince spent several days trekking through the wilds of Transylvania, a historic region of central Romania where he owns property.
Charles claims to be a distant relative of the warlord Vlad the Impaler, a local ruler that author Bram Stoker used as the basis of his lead character in the 1897 novel "Dracula."
News from © The Associated Press, 2012