2023-09-22 09:00:00
This June 5, 2014, François Hollande welcomes the Queen as part of the ceremonies for the 70th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy. This commemoration is accompanied by a short official visit to Paris. Very aware of the sovereign’s great age (88 years), Buckingham Palace asked the Élysée to restrict the duration and number of events she attends.
For the two countries, it is also a question of demonstrating the importance of the Entente Cordiale within the European Union while the referendum on membership must take place in two years. For the rest, there is agreement on the files, terrorism or the “jungle” of Calais. London provided logistical assistance to the French expeditionary force deployed in Mali.
Although his English is very hesitant, Hollande is an Anglophile by geographical attachment. Originally from Rouen, he spent his youth in Normandy, a region dear to his guest, who bears the title of duchess of the place. As the sovereign comes to France every ten years, he decided to offer her a leather photo display specially made by Hermès containing photos of her six visits to France since the first, in 1948, when she was still crown princess.
Julie Gayet is not present
Elizabeth II chooses to take the Eurostar. His Bentley is waiting for him at Gare du Nord. After walking down the Champs-Élysées and meditating in front of the flame of the Arc de Triomphe, Her Majesty received 600 guests at a “garden party” at the British embassy. She loves the residence, one of the most magnificent historic homes in the French capital, which brings back so many fond memories of her previous stays.
The next day, the queen participated in the anniversary of the landing in Ouistreham (Calvados) in the presence of 3,000 veterans, lunched in the company of other distinguished guests, before returning to Paris to participate in the gala banquet at the Élysée. A long day for a lady of this age.
The cover of the menu offered by the Élysée reproduces that of the feasts of the official visit to Paris of Elizabeth’s grandfather, George V. In terms of layout, Hollande opted for an oval head table at the end of the room and round tables reminiscent of a wedding dinner.
While across the Channel the participants in a banquet are first introduced before sitting at the table to the royal couple and their distinguished guests, the French president, the queen and her husband suddenly appear at the entrance to the banquet hall, which they slowly cross from end to end to reach their place. The host wanted to avoid making his visitor uncomfortable. His companion, Julie Gayet, is not present.
Our series Royal visits
In 1957, Elizabeth II received a standing ovation for her first state visit to France
1972: Georges Pompidou’s “serious” protocol error with Elizabeth II
1992: at the heart of the special relationship between Elizabeth II and François Mitterrand
2004: Jacques Chirac very complicit with the “myth” Elizabeth II
When François Hollande “snubbed” His Gracious Majesty
Supreme affront
In her speech, alternately in English and French, the Queen states in an accomplished deadpan tone: “The English Channel is not a dividing line, but a link. » David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, is at the head table. In Hollande’s mind, the brilliance of this visit should help him in the Brexit referendum campaign which promises to be difficult.
In his memoirs, the former leader of the British right will not return the favor. On the contrary, he asserts that the French president’s refusal to make concessions on the free movement of workers within the European Union played an important role in the defeat of the Remain camp during the consultation of June 23, 2016.
Above all, to read Cameron, François Hollande has constantly returned to his commitments made in private. On Ukraine, in particular, by refusing, in 2014, to apply sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Crimea “so as not to hinder French arms sales to Moscow”.
It is a fact. Obsessed by his attempt to mediate in the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, Hollande preferred, during the coffee following the banquet, to discuss with French journalists his mission of good offices between Putin and Poroshenko – Ukrainian president between June 2014 and May 2019 – rather than looking after his British guests. The host of the banquet “snubs” Elizabeth II to the point of making her wait for several minutes at the head table. And, supreme affront, he does not touch his champagne during the toast.
No face-to-face meeting with Macron
To end the visit, the queen took a walk the next day at the flower market on the Île de la Cité, renamed in her name for the occasion. Lord Peter Ricketts, the British Ambassador to Paris, said: “We wanted a meeting with the people of Paris but also to leave a record of their visit. The Town Hall first wanted to name a street in his name, but, by convention, this is reserved for deceased personalities. Anne Hidalgo then suggested the flower market to us. »
François Hollande is the only president of the Fifth Republic, along with Emmanuel Macron, who was not entitled to a state visit to the United Kingdom. Would he have had the honor if he had been re-elected? Not sure. For the British, the problem is not that they forgive diplomatic snubs, the problem is that they never forget them.
READ ALSO Charles III at Versailles: Mélenchon and Rousseau sharpen their pikesElizabeth II met Emmanuel Macron twice: in June 2019, in Portsmouth, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, and in December 2019, during the 70th anniversary of NATO, in London. These were public meetings that did not involve any face-to-face interviews.
Receiving King Charles III in Paris from March 26 to 29, the president would do well to ponder the failures of his predecessor if he wishes to make a state trip across the Channel. The former imperial power has a long memory…
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