King Charles is to host the French president, Emmanuel Macron, on a state visit to the UK from 8-10 July, Buckingham Palace has announced.
The French leader and his wife, Brigitte Macron, will stay at Windsor Castle and will be honoured with a state banquet at the historical Berkshire royal residence.Charles and Camilla paid a state visit to France in September 2023.
The last state visit to the UK from France was in March 2008, when the then president, Nicolas Sarkozy, also stayed at Windsor, as guest of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Macron’s state visit will be seen as an attempt by the UK government to strengthen ties with Europe and protect its economy after the turmoil caused by the US president, Donald Trump’s, tariffs.
King Charles is also due to host Trump for a state visit after the prime minister, Keir Starmer, presented the US president with an invitation in February, but a date has not yet been announced. Last month, Trump suggested Buckingham Palace was “setting a date for September” for his second state visit to the UK.
The palace confirmed the French state visit was being planned before an invitation was extended to Trump.
It will be Macron’s first state visit to the UK, and follows that by Charles to France in 2023, which was initially postponed at the request of the French president after unions called a day of pension protests for the same time. Macron said it “would lack common sense” to go ahead.
When Charles did visit, he became the first British monarch to address the French Senate, speaking for about 20 minutes mainly in French but dipping into English at times. He spoke about France’s love for his mother and thanked the country for “the great kindness” it showed when she died.
The king also spoke about the war in Ukraine, saying the UK and France were united in support of Ukraine against the “horrifying” Russian invasion. He mentioned tackling the climate crisis, too, a cause he has previously campaigned about.
The end of the speech was greeted with a standing ovation. Later he and Camilla visited Bordeaux.
