Violent protests, rioting and looting in France derail King Charles’ first state visit
King Charles’s scheduled visit to France did not go ahead with the French President Emmanuel Macron calling the monarch to warn him to stay away.
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The King and Queen Consort postponed their state visit to France following violent protests in the country.
The couple were due to travel on Sunday but the trip will be rescheduled as soon as possible, the French president’s office said.
The decision was made after a phone call between Emmanuel Macron and King Charles.
A spokesperson for the Elysee Palace said: “Given the announcement yesterday of another day of national protest against the pension reform on Tuesday, King Charles’ visit, initially scheduled for March 26 to 29, will be postponed.”
Anti-Macron demonstrations had loomed over the upcoming visit, the first to France of his reign, amid tensions over pension reform.
Last week, the French leader raised the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a parliamentary vote, which sparked outrage across the country.
More than a million activists have taken to the streets from Paris to Marseille to campaign against the change.
Violence erupted when officers clashed with masked groups, some of whom lit a fire at the historic City Hall in the South West city of Bordeaux.
There were at least 903 acts of arson in the capital alone, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said.
Looters have targeted shops, ransacked branches of McDonald’s, smashed up bus shelters, demolished public seating and torched mounds of rubbish.
Riot police used tear gas, batons, stun grenades and water canons to try to disperse the crowds chanting “revolution”.
Some 149 cops were seriously injured and 172 people were arrested across the country.
Protesters planned to target a lavish state banquet at Versailles and a trip to Bordeaux from Sunday to Wednesday.
Drivers of a tram the royals were set to use were going to strike.
Thousands of workers, including bin collectors, are already staging walkouts, leaving tonnes of waste piling up on pavements.
Trade Unions have warned that the social unrest will worsen unless Mr Macron reverses his “incomprehensible” pension reforms.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “The King and The Queen Consort’s State Visit to France has been postponed.
“Their Majesties greatly look forward to the opportunity to visit France as soon as dates can be found.
Security sources say the French feared King Charles’ safety could not be guaranteed “because of his interest in mingling with crowds”.
A crack team of officers from the SDLP Protection Service unit rigorously studied the monarch’s profile before his intended State Visit this weekend.
“They became aware of the King’s habit of impromptu handshakes, and talking to ordinary people whenever he could,” an insider involved in the planning said.
“There are huge social tensions in France, and there is no doubt that such good manners could have been very dangerous indeed.”
Mr Macron himself later added: “I don’t think it would have been sensible for us – it would have lacked common sense – if we’d suggested that [the Royals] pay a state visit in the middle of the demonstrations.
“So because we have a lot of friendship, respect and esteem for His Majesty the King, the Queen Consort and the British people, I took the initiative this morning of calling him and telling him what the situation was.
“Given that that day had been decided on, common sense and friendship led us to suggest a postponement.
“We’ve suggested that when things calm down again, at the beginning of the summer, depending on our respective timetables, together we can book another State visit, not only in keeping with the proper way to welcome the new King and the Queen Consort but also in circumstances that will enable him to get the best out of France, both Paris and Bordeaux.”
HIGHLY SYMBOLIC VISIT
The King was to have become the first British monarch to address both the French senate and the German Bundestag in what was seen as a post-Brexit olive branch to the United Kingdom’s historical rivals.
The King was due to spend Monday in Paris before travelling to Bordeaux in the southwest on Tuesday. After France Charles was expected to travel to Germany on Wednesday.
The French presidency said the decision was made after a call between President Emmanuel Macron and the king on Friday morning, local time.
The decision was “in order to be able to welcome His Majesty King III in conditions which reflect our friendly relations.”
“This state visit will be reorganised as soon as possible,” the statement added.
While the decision to postpone the visit was made “jointly”, a UK government spokesperson confirmed the delay came at the request of Mr Macron.
The French president has been under intense pressure as he pushes through changes to government welfare programs in the face of public backlash.
Trade unions announced another round of strikes for Tuesday when Charles and Camilla were due in Bordeaux, with their provisional schedule including a trip to city hall. The entrance to the public building was set on fire on Thursday.
Buckingham Palace confirmed the postponement, saying “their Majesties greatly look forward to the opportunity to visit France as soon as dates can be found.”
In addition to shoring up the UK’s alliance with Europe two largest powers, the visit had been seen as honouring the late Queen Elizabeth II’s affection of France.
Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by her husband Prince Philip, last undertook state visits to France and Germany in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
Elizabeth, who was a fluent French speaker, made five state visits to France during her reign, in addition to numerous private visits.
Her first visit to France was in 1948 as the 22-year-old Princess Elizabeth. In 1957, when she returned to France as queen, thousands lined the streets to cheer her as she travelled through the capital.
Before their trip was derailed, the King and Queen Consort were to have been guests of honour at a state banquet hosted by the Macrons at the Palace of Versailles.
They were also scheduled to hold a ceremony of remembrance and wreath laying at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and officially open the new Manet and Degas exhibition at the Musee d’Orsay.
French unions called for nationwide protests to coincide with King Charles’ first visit after more than one million people took part in demonstrations across the country to protest pension reforms.
Police and protesters clashed on the streets of Paris where an estimated 119,000 protesters united – a record for the capital since the pension protests began in January. At one point security forces fired tear gas and used batons to control the crowd.
“Unbelievable! We are going to have Emmanuel Macron, the monarch who is going to welcome King Charles III in Versailles,” Sandrine Rousseau, a senior politician from the Ecologist party, said.
“Of course he should cancel this visit. Is the priority really to welcome Charles III in Versailles.”
Jean-Luc Melenchon, a regular presidential candidate and leader of the France Unbowed party said “It’s not the right time”.
“Mr King, listen, we have nothing against you here, but you’re the king of the English – that’s your business – but you should stay away from Versailles,” he said.
The crowd numbers in Paris and other cities were higher than in previous protest days, given new momentum by Mr Macron’s refusal in a TV interview on Wednesday to back down on the reform.
Some protesters lit fires in the streets, setting ablaze pallets and piles of uncollected rubbish, prompting firefighters to intervene, according to AFP correspondents.
In Paris, several hundred black-clad radical demonstrators smashed the windows of banks, shops and fast-food outlets, and destroyed street furniture.
Half of France’s high-speed train services were cancelled and the streets of Paris were choking with rubbish because of strike action by garbage collectors.
The garbage littered across the streets became a target as protesters set fire to the trash piled up in the city centre.
Protesters briefly occupied the tracks at the Gare de Lyon train station in Paris, and some blocked access to Charles de Gaulle Airport.
– with AFP
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Originally published as Violent protests, rioting and looting in France derail King Charles’ first state visit
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