Buckingham Palace has been closely monitoring the situation in France for a few days.
The verdict fell this Friday, March 24: the official visit of Charles III to France is finally postponed.
“Given the announcement yesterday of a new national day of action against pension reform on Tuesday March 28 in France, the visit of King Charles III, initially scheduled for March 26 to 29 in our country, will be postponed”, indicates the Élysée in a press release.
This decision, fraught with meaning for France's image abroad, "was taken by the French and British governments, after an exchange between the President of the Republic and the King this morning, in order to be able to receive His Majesty King Charles III under conditions which correspond to our relationship of friendship".
This state visit, which will have been the first abroad of Charles III since his accession to the throne, will be rescheduled “as soon as possible”.
Charles III had chosen France for his first state trip.
A few weeks ago, the
Times
spoke of a historic visit, seen across the Channel as an "attempt to build bridges with Britain's European neighbors after Brexit".