Britain’s Prince Charles, Centre, laughs flanked by Aung San Suu Kyi, left, and Camilla, right, after a tree planting ceremony in the garden at Clarence House in London, on Thursday. — AFP photo

Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi met British heir to the throne Prince Charles on Thursday ahead of her historic address to both houses of parliament.
Her royal encounter on the third day of her first trip to Britain in 24 years came as the British government confirmed it had invited Myanmar’s reformist president Thein Sein to visit London.
‘He is due to visit the UK in the coming months to continue the discussions they began when the prime minister was in Burma in April,’ said a spokesman for Cameron.
Downing Street said Suu Kyi was ‘aware of the invitation.’
Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, who is visiting Britain for a week as part of a sweep through Europe, met Charles and his wife Camilla at their Clarence House residence in London.
Charles knew Suu Kyi’s late English husband Michael Aris, and became patron of the Tibet expert’s Memorial Trust for Tibetan and Himalayan Studies after Aris died in 1999.
She earlier met British foreign secretary William Hague at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, where she received loud applause.