2023-09-21 17:00:48
In an outpouring rarely observed in this chamber of territories – the Senate services were overwhelmed with requests for accreditation – the 300 senators and deputies gathered in the hemicycle this Thursday uttered an exclamation at the arrival of the royal Bentley in the courtyard of the presidency, in a very “British” rain.
And the ovation, at the entrance and exit of King Charles III, lasted several minutes, despite a few seats remaining empty among the 348 in the room. “Applause that would make us dream,” commented Gérard Larcher. There was also plenty of laughter when the President of the Senate quoted Charles de Gaulle confiding to Winston Churchill: “The more you progress in French, the more you understand my English. »
In his speech, the monarch insisted on the understanding between the United Kingdom and France. Alternating between French and English, he underlined “the long friendship which binds our nations and our peoples” and assured that “the United Kingdom will always be one of the closest allies and one of the best friends of the France “. He also pledged to French parliamentarians to “do everything in (his) power to strengthen the essential relationship between the United Kingdom and France”.
An “Agreement for Sustainability”
Charles III also spoke of his commitment to the climate and the war in Ukraine. “Together, we are unwavering in our determination that Ukraine will triumph and that our cherished freedoms will prevail. » King Charles III, with strong environmental convictions, also proposed that France and the United Kingdom commit to an “Agreement for Sustainability” in order to respond “more effectively” to the “global climate emergency”. and biodiversity”.
This speech from the podium of the French Senate was a first for a British sovereign. In 2004, his mother Elizabeth II gave a speech in the Senate Conference Room, in front of assembled deputies and senators, but not in the hemicycle.
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