The death of Queen Elizabeth II has sparked a torrent of tributes across the globe. Including here in France. This Friday, Emmanuel Macron greeted a “queen of courage and valor” and laid a white rose in front of the portrait of Elizabeth II at the British Embassy in Paris where he signed the register of condolences for the deceased sovereign. .
“Here in Paris, which she loved so much, as everywhere in France, the grief of our compatriots is immense,” he wrote in the condolence book. “For seventy years, Elizabeth II was a Queen of courage and valour, a friend of France. We are on your side,” he added, alongside Ambassador Menna Rawlings. The head of state, dressed in a black suit, then laid a rose in front of a portrait of the queen before bowing.
“For us, she was THE queen”
“His death leaves us with a feeling of emptiness,” he said shortly before in an English video posted on Twitter. “For you she was your queen, for us she was THE queen,” he continued. In a statement to the press, the ambassador thanked President Macron for his “moving tribute, empathy and respect”.
She greeted “the greatest diplomat” of the United Kingdom and recalled her “love for France”, the country she had visited the most in Europe. “She was a constant in our lives and in the lives of millions of people (…) She embodied what it was to be British and gave her Nation strong leadership, courage, joy and when it I needed hope,” she said.
“She loved France, which gave it back to her”
“She was the calm in our storm,” she added, referring to the history of the Franco-British relationship. Before his visit to the embassy, President Macron sent a message to the new King Charles III according to the Élysée.
Thursday, at the announcement of the death of the monarch who died “peacefully” at 96, after 70 years of reign, Emmanuel Macron had paid tribute to “a queen of hearts”. “The queen of sixteen kingdoms loved France, which returned it well,” he said in a statement.