Three days to reaffirm the historic links between the UK and France. King Charles III ended his state visit to France on Friday, during which he pleaded for a new Franco-British "Entente" to fight global warming. Military ceremony on the Champs-Élysées, glamorous dinner at Versailles, ovation at the Senate... The France had brought out the small dishes in the big ones for the passage of the British king. Back in five images.
First visit to the Champs-Élysées
AFP/Yoan Valat
As soon as he arrived, immediately on the Champs-Élysées. King Charles III inaugurated his state visit on Wednesday with a meticulous military ceremony under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, with a car trip down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. The opportunity for the monarch to see, from afar, some onlookers who came to meet him near the most famous avenue in the world.
Pomp and glamour at Versailles
AFP/Benoit Tessier/Pool
On the menu: blue lobster, Bresse poultry and rose macaron, prepared by starred chefs, in a Sèvres porcelain. On the guest list, among others: actors Hugh Grant, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Emma Mackey, writer Ken Follett, the legendary Mick Jagger and former Arsenal FC coach Arsène Wenger. On Wednesday evening, the Palace of Versailles, venue of the state dinner in honor of Charles III, became a real diplomatic calling card.
Standing ovation in the Senate
REUTERS/Emmanuel Dunand AFP or licensors
This was a first for a British sovereign. On Thursday, during his visit to the Senate in front of some 300 French parliamentarians, Charles III received a long standing ovation. The reason? His speech, during which he pleaded for a new "Entente" between Paris and London on the climate, pledging to "do everything in (his) power to strengthen the indispensable relationship between the United Kingdom and France". On the diplomatic front, the king, who intends to establish his image internationally a year after his accession to the throne, also assured the Senate of the "unwavering determination" of the United Kingdom and the France to see Ukraine "triumph".
Table tennis in Saint-Denis
LP/Arnaud Journois Arnaud Journois
On Thursday, Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla went to Saint-Denis, a suburban city but also the nerve center of the 2024 Olympic Games and site of the necropolis of the kings of France, in the Gothic basilica that the king and queen took the time to visit. Accompanied by Brigitte Macron, the king and queen spoke with French international Presnel Kimpembe and PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, who presented Charles III with a club shirt in his name. Relaxed, Brigitte Macron and Queen Camilla even played a game of ping-pong in front of young children.
A taste for France
AFP/Christophe Archambault AFP or licensors
To close their visit, the king and his wife Camilla made a detour through the city of Bordeaux, a city historically linked to the United Kingdom. After a new crowd bath in the city center, the monarch, attached to the issue of the environment, visited an experimental forest in Floirac, before ending with a visit to the Château Smith Haut Lafitte wine estate. The opportunity, this time, to taste French know-how, before returning to his subjects across the Channel.
