The state visit of King Charles III to France, scheduled for Sunday to Wednesday, is “postponed”, “given the announcement of a new national day of action against pension reform” Tuesday March 28, announced the Elysée on Friday.
The decision was “taken by the French and British governments, after a telephone exchange between the President of the Republic and the King this morning, in order to be able to welcome His Majesty King Charles III under conditions which correspond to our relationship of friendship”writes the French presidency in a press release, promising a rescheduling of the visit ” as soon as possible “.
“We would not be serious and we would lack a certain common sense” if France maintains the visit of the king, then declared Emmanuel Macron during a conference on the sidelines of the European summit in Brussels. Impossible to consider “a state visit amid the protests”insisted the Head of State, for whom “common sense and friendship lead us to propose a postponement”.
“What would have been hateful would have been for us to try to maintain [cette visite] as if nothing had happened with incidents at the key. »
Mr Macron said he proposed that a new date for the visit could “to be stalled (…) at the beginning of the summer”. King Charles and his wife, Camilla, look forward to going to France “as soon as dates can be found”said Buckingham Palace.
This state visit, scheduled from March 26 to 29, was to be Charles III’s first trip abroad since he succeeded Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022. As crown prince, he had already made thirty-four official visits to France and twenty-eight to Germany, where he is expected from March 29 to 31.
“People’s Censorship”
The king was to attend with Emmanuel Macron a ceremony of remembrance at the Arc de Triomphe, then deliver a speech in the Senate. A state banquet was scheduled for March 27 at the Palace of Versailles. The next day, Charles and Camilla should have traveled to Bordeaux, then to areas devastated by the fires in the summer of 2022 and visited an organic vineyard.
Earlier this week, the king’s entourage said the protests could have consequences for the organization of the king’s visit next week, the first since he became monarch in September 2022.
Several members of the opposition have called for the visit to be canceled due to the movement protesting the pension reform, which has grown since the use of Article 49.3 of the Constitution, which allowed its adoption without a vote. .
The French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, assured Friday morning that France was ready to welcome the King of England.
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“The meeting of kings at Versailles dispersed by popular censorship”, joked on Twitter the leader of La France insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
