In the middle of the Hall of Mirrors at the Château de Versailles this Wednesday evening, Emmanuel Macron gave a speech to his guest, King Charles III of England. The sovereign, who succeeded his mother Elizabeth II in September 2022 after the latter’s death, is in France for a two-day state visit.
The president wanted to thank Charles III for his presence on French soil, a few months after his accession, and a previous postponed visit. The Head of State thus welcomed “a sign of friendship and trust” between the United Kingdom and France, a “tribute to our past” and a “guarantee of the future”.
“Despite Brexit, because what binds us comes from so far away and you are here today, Your Majesty, I know that we will continue to write part of the future of our continent together, to meet the challenges and to serve the causes that we have in common,” he said in the sumptuous Versailles setting.
For his part, Charles III also spoke of Franco-British relations: “It is up to us all to reinvigorate our friendship so that it is up to the challenges of this 21st century,” he declared. The monarch and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, were welcomed early in the afternoon by Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne at Paris-Orly airport. The first day of a visit which is already marked by the relaunch of Franco-British friendship, after the turbulence of Brexit.
