A royal commentator has criticised King Charles for not inviting French president Emmanuel Macron on a state visit to Britain ahead of a key event set to take place next week.
Monday will mark the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale – the historic diplomatic agreement between Britain and France which laid the groundwork for their collaboration in both world wars – and a landmark Changing of the Guard is set to take place on the forecourt of Buckingham Palace in London.
France will become the first non-Commonwealth country to take part in the traditional ceremony as 32 members of the Gendarmerie’s Garde Republicaine and 40 Guardsmen from F Company Scots Guards will parade together.
While the Gendarmerie will participate in the ancient ceremony, they will not take the place of their British counterparts in guarding the King as this responsibility is only afforded to members of the British Armed Forces and Commonwealth troops.
The King will not be attending the event but will be represented by Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie, who will be accompanied by the UK Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Patrick Sanders, French Chief of the Army Staff, General Pierre Schill and the French Ambassador to the UK, Hélène Duchêne.
A similar guard change attended by President Macron will be held in Paris earlier that day.
Now Daily Mail commentator Ephraim Hardcastle suggested Monday’s ceremony would be a good opportunity for the French president to have been invited over, and wondered whether the King will ever do so.
He wrote for the newspaper: “Edward and Sophie’s deputising for the King at Monday’s 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale highlights the failure to invite French president Emmanuel Macron on a state visit.
“With French soldiers taking part in Changing the Guard for the first time and his ambassador playing a key role, Emmanuel must be wondering when Charles will give him the nod.
“His predecessors made a record five state visits during the reign of the late Queen, with every president from de Gaulle in 1960 to Sarkozy in 2008.
“Only Francois Hollande was never asked. Is Macron also to be denied the honour?”
Many royal fans rushed to defend the monarch, with several of them suggesting it might have to do with his ongoing cancer treatment and others suggesting it should be a Commonwealth country that gets invited first.
One user wrote on X: “Gosh, I dunno, do you think the King’s cancer might have something to do with it?(sic)”
Another one added: “Didn’t the King just recently went on a State Visit to France? And, I’d think a Commonwealth country should be the 1st one planned as we know he’s king. It caused a bit of a stir that his first state visit to another to country wasn’t a Commonwealth one if I remember right.(sic)”
A third one commented: “So de Gaulle didn’t visit until 8 years after QEII’s ascension. KC hasn’t even reached 2 years AND is battling cancer!”
