Kigali: Prince Charles on Wednesday laid a wreath at the memorial to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda during a British royal's first visit to the country.
The Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla paid silent tribute at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, the final resting place for more than 250,000 victims of the genocide that took place nearly three decades ago.
The royal couple signed the memorandum of remembrance with a garland of white flowers.
He also spoke with survivors of the massacre in which some 800,000 mainly Tutsi people were massacred by Hutu extremist forces in about 100 days between April and July 1994.
Charles and Camilla also visited the Memorial Museum where they saw photographs of the victims and their property and heard personal testimonials about the murders.
The royal couple arrived late Tuesday in Rwanda, where the Prince of Wales is representing his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, at a Commonwealth summit this week.
Leaders of several Commonwealth countries are expected to be in Kigali in the coming days for a meeting of the 54-member club, mainly from the former British colonies.
Rwanda, a former German and Belgian colony, joined the Commonwealth in 2009 and has grown closer to the English-speaking world in recent years.
Inaugurated in 2004 during the 10th anniversary of the killings, the Kigali Genocide Memorial features an education centre, a garden, library and a 1200-seat amphitheater that hosts workshops, plays and cultural films.
The remains of the victims are laid out in three main rows, with more buried as new graves are opened across the country.
In the cemetery, The Wall of Names is dedicated to the victims of the massacre.