Emmanuel Macron 'feared a Marie Antoinette moment' over visit of King Charles
French President Emmanuel Macron has cancelled King Charles' and the Queen Consort's visit to France amid fears of a "Marie Antoinette moment".
The monarch was due to arrive in Paris on Sunday for a four-day trip, including a state banquet at Versailles Palace on Monday night.
However, due to ongoing strike action in the country over the President's pension mandate the visit has been called off.
There are now rumours that the French President's aides feared the dinner could stir up revolutionaries across the Channel, given the chateau's links to the 1789 Revolution.
The last king of France Louis XVI and his wife Marie-Antoinette were guillotined in 1793.
Kate Middleton swears by £19.99 rosehip oil that helps 'reduce wrinkles & scars'
Anti-riot police officers behind a fire set by protesters during a demonstration on a national action day (Jerome Gilles/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock)Experts told MailOnline today that Charles would have been determined to cross the Channel to show that you cannot give in to "the mob."
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said that the symbolism of a state banquet at Versailles as France burns would have been Macron's "Marie Antoinette moment."
He said: "The postponement of King Charles’s state visit to France, the first of his reign, marks a humiliation for President Macron.
"The country is descending into anarchy and it was clearly impossible to guarantee the safety of the royal party and to keep to any set schedule where security could be relied on.
French President Emmanuel Macron (AFP via Getty Images)"Threats to disrupt the visit were all too real, especially given the symbolism attached to Versailles, where a state banquet was to be held."
Polls say most French oppose President Emmanuel Macron’s bill to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64, which he says is necessary to keep the system afloat.
More than a million people took to the streets across France on Thursday, according to figures from the interior ministry.
Over 450 protesters were arrested in Paris and beyond on Thursday and some 441 police and gendarmes were injured as violence marred some marches.
Demonstration against pension reform across France (Fabien Pallueau/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock)“We’re fed up with a president who thinks he’s Louis XIV, who doesn’t listen, who thinks he’s the only one to know what’s good for this country,” said Michel Doneddu, a 72-year-old pensioner from the Paris suburbs told Agence France Presse.
He held up a placard that read, “Jupiter, the people will bring you back down to Earth”, a reference to a nickname commonly used by critics of Macron’s lofty, arrogant manner.
Kate rules out receiving romantic gift from Prince William on Valentine's Day
He continued: “We’ve had our share of useless presidents, but at least in the past they knew when to listen and when to back down. But Macron, he’s on another planet.”
Macron finally broke his silence this week, saying he was prepared to accept unpopularity because the bill was “necessary” and “in the general interest of the country”.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
