A visit to France by King Charles III begins Wednesday after an almost six-month delay cause by strikes and mass public protests in Britain’s near neighbour.
AFP reports the 74-year-old British head of state’s rescheduled three-day trip to Paris and Bordeaux with his wife Queen Camilla, 76, starts with the itinerary largely unchanged from March.
At around 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) on the opening day of the three-day trip, the royal couple, accompanied by President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte, will attend a ceremony in memory of World War I and lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe landmark in the French capital.
The Royal couple and the Macron’s last crossed paths at the Coronation in May.
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron arrive to take their seats ahead of the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 6, 2023 in London, England. (Ben Stansall – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Charles will then share a car, marked with the French Republic´s insignia, with Macron to travel down the Champs-Elysees, as will Camilla and the French first lady, but in a separate vehicle, Macron´s office said.
Other set-piece ceremonial events are aplanned with Macron, whose unpopular pension reforms sparked the civil unrest earlier this year, as well as more informal meetings with the public.
Old friends: Prince Charles, Prince of Wales meets President of France Emmanuel Macron ahead of their bilateral meeting during the Cop26 summit at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) on November 1, 2021 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. (Jane Barlow – Pool/Getty Images)
The French leader and First Lady will host Charles and Camilla at a state banquet at Versailles, the palace west of Paris synonymous with French royalty — and the bloody republican revolution of 1789.
Up to 180 people will be invited to dine in the Hall of Mirrors — 240 feet long and adorned with 357 mirrors — that was built to illustrate Louis´s absolute power and dazzle visitors.
The late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip had lunch at Versailles during their first state visit to France in 1957.
File/A banquet in honour of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip underway at Versailles, France, in 1957 (Keystone-FranceGamma-Rapho via Getty)
Other highlights include a landmark address — likely in French — by Charles to lawmakers at the Senate.
Charles and Macron have met before, most recently at the King’s coronation — the official religious ceremony to mark his accession — in May and are said to have a “warm relationship.”