FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
PARIS – Emmanuel Macron could not resist, he is stronger than him. Touching the interlocutor is a sign of friendship, trust and equal dignity. He placed his hand on the pope’s shoulder at the Vatican in 2018, horrifying protocol experts. Imagine if he could have held back under the Arc de Triomphe yesterday as he met King Charles III. of England was within reach. She took his arm in a friendly manner, violating the first rule of etiquette on these occasions: never touch the royal family of England.
But President Macron is enthusiastic about this visit of King Charles to Paris accompanied by Camilla and also knows that re-establishing the friendship between London and Paris is particularly important for the United Kingdom, as Brexit is increasingly proving to be a mistake today and it There is a need to at least move closer to the European Union and wait, perhaps one day, to break the taboo and discuss whether we should become part of the European Union again.
The elite of luxury and culture from beyond the Alps and across the English Channel. At the Versailles reception in honor of King Charles III, given by French President Emmanuel Macron in the Hall of Mirrors, Bernard Arnault marched on the Tapis Rouge – the carpet that a strike was said to have prevented in March, when the visit was originally planned Being the owner of LVMH and his daughter Delphine. But also rock legend Mick Jagger and Baron Eric de Rothschild, but also David de Rothschild and Louise de Rothschild, Bruno Pawlowski, a great supporter of Chanel throughout his life. Jack Lang and Carole Bouquet for France and British star Hugh Grant with his wife Anna Elizabet Everstein. With Paralympic athlete Marie-Amelie Le Fur and many nobles and “secular” aristocrats in France who guillotined their king. But for King Charles III. he rolled out a red carpet. (Text Enrica Roddolo)
Macron is pleased to welcome King Charles for at least two reasons, one profound and one conditional. The president has always revered monarchical splendor and the continuity of tradition, and shortly before his first race for the Elysée Square in 2015, he said a sentence unusual for a Frenchman, son of the revolution: “Democracy always involves a form of incompleteness , because it alone is not enough. What is missing in French politics is the figure of the king, and I fundamentally believe that the French people did not want him dead. The terror has created an emotional, imaginary, collective void: the king is no longer there.” Perhaps that is why Macron is so inclined to fill this void, using all the signs of solemnity that the Fifth Republic bestows on the president is still co-prince of Andorra (small consolation).
Then there is the possible reason: King Charles was already expected in Paris last March, when the French government was forced to cancel the visit because France was in the chaos of protests against pension reform; Greeting the king now, after the reform has been passed and the revolt crushed, is the symbol of Macron’s victory.
This was followed by a gala dinner in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, with a 62.5 meter long table, the heads of state in the middle, Camilla and Brigitte at their side and 150 guests. Among them Mick Jagger, Hughes Grant, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Ken Follett, who presented Anne-Sophie Pic’s blue lobster, Yannick Alleno’s Bresse guinea fowl and pastry chef Pierre Hermé’s famous Ispahan macaron in a splendor of Michelin stars and monarchy atmosphere. republican splendor.