2023-08-24 14:08:28
Postponed due to protests against pension reform, the visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla to France will take place from Wednesday September 20 to Friday September 22, the Elysée announced on Thursday. This will be the first state visit to France by the king and queen consorts. Besides Paris, they will also go to Bordeaux, said the British Embassy in Paris in a press release.
Initially, the royal couple should have come to France from March 26 to 29, but due to a tense social climate in the country, marked by numerous demonstrations, strikes and actions against the pension reform, the Élysée had preferred to postpone visit. She had justified this postponement by the need to “welcome His Majesty King Charles III under conditions which correspond to our relationship of friendship”. This should have been Charles III’s first foreign visit since his accession to the throne.
“Shared history, values and culture”
“This visit is an honor for France, while our country will also host the Rugby World Cup. It will bear witness to the depth of the historical ties that unite our two countries and our two peoples, ”commented the Elysée in a press release. For the two Heads of State, it “will be an opportunity to pursue their common commitment to the preservation of nature, a subject on which they have cooperated closely in recent years”, added the French presidency.
“This visit will celebrate the shared history, values and culture of the United Kingdom and France,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
In his initial program, the visit of the British king was to be marked by a State dinner at the Élysée, a descent of the famous avenue des Champs-Élysées alongside President Emmanuel Macron, as well as a prestigious dinner at the Château de Versailles, in the Hall of Mirrors. According to the British Embassy, “further details on the program of the State visit will be confirmed in due course”.
As crown prince, Charles had gone on official trips to French soil 34 times since the 1970s, from Nice to Roscoff in Brittany, via Normandy, Paris or Lyon. He had been invited by President Macron after the death of Elizabeth II, a Francophile and French-speaking queen who had visited France five times on state visits during her 70-year reign.
Since his ascent to the throne, Charles has made few trips abroad. In addition to his state visit to Germany – which replaced a trip to France – he made a private visit to Romania in June, without his wife Camilla, 76, where he owns a property.
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