Six months after riots and strikes forced the last-minute postponement of his first state visit as king, Charles III makes it across the Channel from Britain to France this week.
The three-day trip to Paris and Bordeaux, which the British head of state, age 74, and his wife, Queen Camilla, age 76, have rescheduled to begin on Wednesday, is virtually intact from their original March agenda.
It consists of both formal and informal interactions with the public and involves set-piece ceremonial events with President Emmanuel Macron, whose unpopular pension reforms provoked the civil unrest earlier this year.
At the Arc de Triomphe, Macron and his wife Brigitte will be formally greeted, and wreaths will be laid, before the royal couple leads a procession down the grand Champs-Elysees.
Charles and Camilla will be guests of honour at a state luncheon hosted by the French president and first lady at Versailles, the chateau west of Paris that is linked with French royalty and the deadly republican revolution of 1789.
Among the other highlights is Charles’s historic speech (given perhaps in French) to the Senate.
Many of the events focus on issues that are important to both partners, such as sustainability and the environment, literacy and young entrepreneurship.
