21st September, 2023
Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla on Wednesday began a three-day state visit to France, six months after their original visit was postponed because of the violent national protests over pension reforms.
The king and Queen were received by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne at Paris-Orly Airport as they stride across a long red carpet flanked by an honour guard.
Charles and Camilla headed straight to central Paris to join President Emmanuel Macron and wife Brigitte for a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, ahead of talks at the Elysée Palace.
The British monarch was the guest of honour at a state dinner Wednesday evening at the Palace of Versailles outside the capital with a guest list ranging from politicians and business leaders to showbiz notables including actors Hugh Grant and Charlotte Gainsbourg and footballer Didier Drogba.
On Thursday, King Charles will become the first monarch to address both houses of the French parliament — delivering part of his speech in French in which he is fluent — before touring city landmarks, including the renovation of Notre Dame Cathedral and a flower market named for his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
On Friday, King Charles and Camilla will head 300 miles southwest to the Atlantic port city of Bordeaux — twinned with the British port city of Bristol — which has a sizable British expatriate population.
While there, he is scheduled to meet with emergency workers and community members affected by wildfires in 2022 before wrapping up the trip with visits to an organic vineyard that runs on clean energy and an urban forest.