France may be a republic, but the French – despite their revolutionary past – have not ceased to show “sincere affection and esteem” for the British sovereign, underlines Adam Sage in the Timesa newspaper for which he has been a correspondent in Paris for more than thirty years.
From President Macron, “who gave a speech in English to evoke the ‘sense of emptiness’ left by the Queen’s death”, to the postwoman who brings him the Times in Paris – who made a point of showing his admiration “at the risk of falling behind in his tour”, the reporter notes that the feeling of affection “was almost universal” in France on Friday September 9 the day after the death of Elizabeth II.
“Even Liberation, usually at the forefront of anti-monarchy, struck a particularly respectful tone in emphasizing that the Queen has a strong relationship with France.”
Adam Sage recalls that Elizabeth II made a total of five State visits to France, but that she came more often to take part in official events or to satisfy her passion for horses by visiting some reputable farms, particularly in Normandy. .
The diplomatic incident came close twice
When she was still only a princess, she had crossed the Channel in 1948 for the inauguration of an exhibition on “Eight centuries of British life in Paris”, surprising her interlocutors with her perfect mastery of the French language.
In 1957, her state visit was particularly appreciated at a time of tension between the two countries following the Suez crisis: Elizabeth II had no hesitation in qualifying Franco-British friendship as “deep and lasting”.
The diplomatic incident had however been narrowly avoided during two other official visits. In 1972, President Pompidou broke protocol by suddenly grabbing her arm on the steps of the Élysée. The queen was not offended. In 1996, it was Jacques Chirac who dealt a new blow to protocol during an official visit to London by blowing kisses to the crowd while he was alongside the sovereign in the royal car. Elizabeth II was content to find the gesture “just a bit surprising” (“just a little amazing”).
Fortunately, no significant incident had disturbed the last state visit of a French president to London in 2008. Nicolas Sarkozy remembers in his Memoirs of the “kindness” which the queen had testified to by accompanying him and his wife to the threshold of the room reserved for them at Windsor Palace.
So many visits that have contributed to smoothing Franco-British relations thanks to the “emotional connection” of Elizabeth II with France, notes Adam Sage.