To celebrate 120 years of the Entente Cordiale between the two countries, France and the United Kingdom are organizing this Monday a cross-over between the Elysée and Buckingham Palace. The British guards take part in the changing of the guard in front of the Elysée Palace, and the French guards do the same, in London, in front of King Charles III’s Buckingham Palace.
During the ceremonies, the sixteen members of the “Number 7 Company Coldstream Guards” of the United Kingdom Embassy, wearing their traditional “bearksin”, the high fur hat, took part in the succession of their French counterparts from two sections of the 1st infantry regiment. The French Army Choir sang the two anthems, God Save the King And The Marseillaise. “This is the first time in the history of the Elysée that a foreign troop has been invited to participate in this military ritual,” underlines the French presidency.
Agreement signed in 1904
“At the same time, two sections of the 1st and 2nd infantry regiments of the Republican Guard took part in the changing of the guard ceremony in front of Buckingham Palace, alongside guards from F Company Scots Guards, the army’s Public Duties Company British person responsible for the ceremonies in London and Windsor,” we learned from the same source.
In London, the ceremony is attended by the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, accompanied by the British Chief of Staff, General Patrick Sanders, and his French counterpart, General Pierre Schill .
Signed in 1904, the Entente Cordiale agreement improved relations after the Napoleonic Wars and is considered the foundation of the alliance between the two NATO members to this day.