KING CHARLES III'S STATE VISIT TO FRANCE POSTPONED DUE TO PROTESTS

The visit of King Charles III, originally scheduled for Sunday March 26, has been postponed. A press release from the Elysée Palace announces that this decision follows the announcement of a new national day of action against pension reform. “This decision was taken by the French and British governments, after an exchange between the President of the Republic and the King”, indicates the Élysée this Friday, March 24, the day after a large-scale demonstration which upset security. In France. “This state visit will be rescheduled as soon as possible”, indicates the press release which tries to reassure as to the stability of relations between the monarch and the French president. This visit is highly symbolic in particular for King Charles III.

He and the queen consort are due to arrive in Paris on Sunday March 26 for a historic event, a first state visit for the new sovereign and a dinner at the Palace of Versailles. Buckingham Palace feared that social tensions would have an "impact on the logistics" of such a trip, had indicated the Daily Mail. His state visit to Germany, which was to follow that to France, has been maintained, the British Embassy in Paris said.

Speaking this morning on Cnews, Gérald Darmanin had nevertheless affirmed that "we will be ready to welcome the British sovereign in excellent conditions". The Minister of the Interior had announced that a total of 4,000 police and gendarmes were mobilized from Sunday evening in Paris, before detailing the stages of the visit, "in Paris, in the Parisian suburbs and in Bordeaux". Gérald Darmanin had also mentioned a “descent from the Champs-Élysées”. On Monday, the sovereign was to go to the Senate for a speech before French parliamentarians. Gérald Darmanin had finally mentioned the securing of the journeys of the British sovereign and the dinner planned at Versailles, without ever mentioning a possible cancellation.

The dinner party organized with great fanfare for the British monarch and the queen consort at the Palace of Versailles on Monday March 27 turned out to have bad timing. Thursday saw a rebound of demonstrators all over France. Several cities were the scene of violence between demonstrators and police, as well as damage. A mobilization that undoubtedly worried Buckingham Palace.

Cardboard guillotines were seen in particular during the demonstrations which mobilized more than 800,000 people in Paris, according to the CGT, and more than a million people in France.