OWe are never sure of anything, but King Charles III seems about to finally make his state visit to France. The stay originally planned for March, and which was to be the sovereign’s first outing abroad since his accession to the throne in September 2022, had to be postponed due to demonstrations against pension reform. Even if the demonstrators were not targeting the king, but “Mr. President,” THE “ events” perhaps smacked a little too much of the Revolution for a crowned head.
Today, the climate seems calmer, and this state trip will be able to take place. France will therefore not be Charles’ first official visit, but the third, after Germany in March and, in June, Romania. He will be received with great pomp: state dinner with President Macron, wreath laying at the Arc de Triomphe, speech to the National Assembly – a first for a British monarch – and visit to an organic vineyard in Bordeaux.
Officially, the visit is intended to celebrate the history, culture and values that the two countries share, and to look to the future, building on our collaboration on topics such as the climate crisis and the war in Ukraine . There is no doubt that we must build symbolic bridges across the Channel, as our last two disastrous prime ministers, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, had chosen to revive old disputes by making fun of our closest neighbors. Certainly, this is an ancient tradition between our two countries, but it is completely counterproductive.
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“Brexit” is a bad word that should not be said, particularly because of the protocol and conventions attached to a monarchy displaying its political neutrality. It is also that relations between the two governments seem to have calmed down in recent months. Since official visits are a decision not of the sovereign himself but of the government, this should be seen as a sign of London’s desire to strengthen the link with France. Although easier to trade than his predecessors, Rishi Sunak still considers that leaving the European Union (EU) was a good thing, even if many indicators show the economic, social and political devastation and fractures that caused Brexit. In opinion polls, the majority of Britons now say they regret leaving Europe.
The main political controversy of the summer in the United Kingdom focused on the Channel crossings by would-be immigrants, and on the gesticulations of the ambitious and intransigent Minister of the Interior, Suella Braverman, to put END. This promise to put an end to illegal crossings is also a commitment from Mr. Sunak. This is to pay very little attention to French cooperation, to the extent that France records much higher migratory flows than Great Britain, and its coastline on the Channel is infinitely longer and more difficult to monitor than the OUR. It is also forgetting that our exit from the EU has complicated the work of cooperation, not to mention the effects of the very right-wing rhetoric of certain British conservatives. Fierce supporters of Brexit who demand France to cooperate more, what a joke!
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