King Charles’ visit to France postponed after violent protests

PARIS - King Charles’ state visit to France on Sunday has been postponed, the Elysee Palace said, after social unrest over President Emmanuel Macron’s changes to the pension system led to violence erupting in Paris and cities across France. 

The Elysee said a joint decision was taken by the British and French governments after trade unions called for a further day of nationwide strikes and demonstrations during the king’s visit.

“Given the announcement yesterday of another national day of protests against pension reform on Tuesday, March 28, the visit of Charles III, initially scheduled from March 26-28, has been postponed,” a statement said.

The postponement will be a major embarrassment to Mr Macron, who had hoped the monarch’s visit would mark a symbolic step in the two countries’ efforts to turn a page after years of poor relations post-Brexit. 

King Charles had been due to travel first to France

for three days before moving on to Germany, an itinerary that had been seen as a coup for the French leader who has sought to position himself as Europe’s de facto leader. 

“The visit will be rescheduled as soon as possible,” the Elysee said in a statement. 

A Buckingham Palace source said King Charles’ visit to Germany will go ahead as planned. 

Black-clad anarchists fought street battles with police for several hours in the French capital on Thursday, ransacking a McDonald’s restaurant, smashing up bus shelters and setting alight mounds of garbage that have piled up during strikes. 

In Bordeaux, at the heart of one of France’s best-known wine growing areas and where King Charles had also been expected to visit, protesters set alight the entrance to the city hall. 

The upending of plans to host King Charles – which included a lavish banquet at the Palace of Versailles – will only pile further pressure on Mr Macron to find a way out of a crisis that has seen some of France’s worst unrest since the ‘Yellow Vest’ rebellion of 2018/2019. 

The violence intensified after Mr Macron’s government pushed legislation to raise the retirement age by two years to 64 through Parliament without a vote. His government lacks a clear majority. 

“The king is right (not to come),” 23-year-old Dorian Ginggen said in Paris. “France is dangerous right now, with the protests. And at the same time he must understand that the French must be heard (by their government).”

Hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, who earlier this week said now was “not the right time” for King Charles to come, welcomed the cancellation of the visit. 

The left-wing opposition, and some protesters, often criticise Mr Macron – who began his second term in office last year - as a would-be monarch. 

“The meeting of the kings in Versailles is broken up by popular censure,” Mr Melenchon tweeted. REUTERS