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France welcomes British royal couple on state visit
President Emmanuel Macron (lr) and his wife Brigitte Macron as well as Queen Camilla and King Charles III. of Great Britain sign the Golden Book during a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. photo
© Yoan Valat/EPA POOL/AP/dpa
Actually, King Charles and Camilla were supposed to come to Paris earlier. Now France is welcoming the royals on their state visit with military honors – and rolling out the red carpet.
The British royal couple were welcomed on their state visit to France with a celebratory reception ceremony and military honors. French President Emmanuel Macron received Charles III. and Camilla on Wednesday at the Paris Triumphal Arch, British and French planes drew the national colors of neighboring countries in the Parisian sky.
After the ceremony, Charles and Macron drove in an open car along the Champs-Élysées and greeted the spectators who had arrived. In the evening, a state banquet awaited the distinguished visitors in the pompous Palace of Versailles.
According to the palace, the British royal couple’s three-day state visit is intended to celebrate Britain’s relationship with France. Shared history, culture and values should therefore be emphasized. The French presidential palace sees the visit as a sign of the strong ties between France and Great Britain.
Before their arrival in Paris, the royal couple wrote on the X platform, formerly Twitter, that they were looking forward to their stay in Paris and Bordeaux. As king, it was his first state visit to France – “a country for which we both have the greatest love and admiration.”
Welcome greetings from Macron
Macron also sent welcome greetings in advance via When the royal couple arrived at Orly Airport in Paris, France’s Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne welcomed the royals with a red carpet rolled out.
Macron and King Charles III also want to exchange ideas about current topics during the visit. In addition to British-French relations, a conversation between the two will also focus on the situation in the Sahel and Ukraine. They also want to talk about climate and biodiversity, it was said from Paris.
For the evening, Macron and his wife Brigitte are planning a celebratory state banquet at the Palace of Versailles just outside Paris. More than 150 guests were also invited to the dinner, including Charlotte Gainsbourg, Emma Mackey, Ken Follet, Mick Jagger and Hugh Grant, French media reported. The menu included blue lobster, porcini mushroom gratin and rose macaroon pastries.
Charles and Camilla’s visit, which had already been planned for March, was postponed at short notice due to the heavy protests against Macron’s pension reform in France. It would have been King Charles’ first state visit. With the rejection, Germany became the king’s first destination after his accession to the throne.