Diplomacy, homage, “kindness”. On a state visit to France since Wednesday, British King Charles III has been able to count on the warm welcome from French President Emmanuel Macron.
The sovereign urged France and the United Kingdom to continue to “reinvigorate their friendship” in order to meet future challenges together, after the turbulence of Brexit. “It is up to us all to reinvigorate our friendship so that it is up to the challenges of this 20th century,” launched Charles III, in French, during a state dinner in the sumptuous decor of the gallery of Ice cream at the Palace of Versailles, symbol of the French monarchy until the Revolution.
The sovereign welcomed that Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had initiated a “renewal of the Entente Cordiale” between the two countries, after years of tensions around Brexit, during a Franco-British summit in March at the Elysée, the first in five years.
A “guarantee of the future”
President Macron, for his part, thanked the king for his visit, a few months after his accession, “a sign of friendship and trust” as well as a “tribute to our past” and a “guarantee of the future”. “Despite Brexit, because what binds us comes from so far away (…) I know that we will continue to write together part of the future of our continent, to meet the challenges and to serve the causes that we have in common. common,” he assured.
Franco-British relations “have not always been peaceful” but this “oscillation movement, this magnetic waltz-hesitation has contributed to intertwining our destinies”, “proving that if there is a feeling which is hereditary between our two countries, it’s not “enmity, it’s fascination,” the president continued.
“As your reign begins, you can count on the friendship and unfailing support of our country, in order to make common cause for our people and humanity,” Emmanuel Macron promised again.
Tribute to Queen Elizabeth
The exchange of toasts between the two leaders was also marked by the memory of Charles III’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who had been received for lunch in the same place in 1957 and had “the greatest affection for France” , as his son recalled.
“We think deeply of her and of Prince Philip, in receiving you this evening with the Queen,” underlined Emmanuel Macron, recalling how the sovereign “walked, for seventy years, alongside the giants of the century that she went to join.”
The king recounted how his mother, then crown princess, and father danced “until the early hours” at a famous Paris cabaret “while Edith Piaf sang” during a visit to France in 1948.
“It must have had an impact on me, even six months before my birth,” he had fun noting, confident that La vie en rose by Edith Piaf was always one of her favorite songs.