The King and Queen had originally planned to visit France on 26-28 March, on what would have been His Majesty’s first overseas stop since taking the throne last September.
The visit was set to be The Monarch’s first overseas state visit as monarch before moving on to Germany. In effect, King Charles travelled straight to Germany.
French ministerial sources reported on Monday that the King and Queen will arrive in Paris around September 23rd to 24th. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said they would not comment on the expected state visit by Their Majesties and that any visit will be announced officially by the Palace.
Sources stated that The King and Queen will first be greeted in the French capital, by President Emmanuel Macron, and his wife, Brigitte Macron, before travelling to the south west city of Bordeaux. The government source told multiple outlets that after an official reception at the Élysée Palace, followed by a dinner at the Palace of Versailles, the royal couple will visit Bordeaux and that both cities had been cleared by ‘British security services’ after ‘scouting during the month of July.’
They reported that the nationwide rioting that dramatically stopped a planned four-day Royal state visit in March with the highlight expected to have been a state banquet at Versailles had been largely quelled by France.
While an exact date has not been announced for the new trip, according to Franceinfo news radio, the exact dates of the royal visit will be confirmed within the next two weeks. The paper said the visit was expected around 20th to 22nd September, adding that King Charles’s security detail had come to Bordeaux in July to prepare the visit. over the weekend it was reported by several French media outlets that although no official announcement has yet been made, they had information that their Majesties would travel to France next month. The visit is expected to be in the latter half of the month, according to the French public service media FranceInfo.
This is also the weekend when Pope Francis is expected to be greeted by millions of French Roman Catholics in the southern city of Marseille. The Rugby World Cup will also be taking place in major French cities, during this time with all major British sides involved, including England.
Their Majesties will visit the south-west city of Bordeaux as well as Paris according to the regional newspaper Sud Ouest.
King Charles had been scheduled to arrive in France two weeks after his Coronation ceremony in May, but opted to visit six months later than originally planned since violent protests were rampant in the country after President Emmanuel Macron had raised the age of retirement from 62 to 64 without a parliamentary vote. Downing Street said at the time that the state visit to France was postponed after a request by President Emmanuel Macron.
France’s Interior Minister, Gerald Darmanin, warned at the time of the riots in March that the ‘blood and fire protests’ threatened Britain’s head of state.
Given the chateau’s links to the 1789 Revolution and the last king of France Louis XVI and his wife Marie-Antoinette, who were guillotined in 1793, intended attacks included one by a crowd of revolutionaries in Versailles and by trade unionists in Bordeaux.
The protest movement was the biggest domestic crisis of President Macron’s second term, with the strikes against planned pension reform also affecting rail transport, refineries, air travel, schools and bin collections. There was particular anger by left-wing groups with regard to the banquet at Versailles.
Queen Elizabeth II, Charles’s late mother, who loved France, had paid six state visits to country, including five to Paris.
