Peterborough Examiner Referrer

No red carpet? French unrest impacts King Charles III’s trip

Striking workers provide unkind welcome for the visiting U.K. monarch

THOMAS ADAMSON AND DANICA KIRKA

Unrest in France is tarnishing the sheen of King Charles III’s first overseas trip as U.K. monarch, with striking workers literally refusing to roll out a red carpet amid pension reform protests and calls for the visit to be cancelled altogether.

Charles is scheduled to undertake the trip beginning Sunday on behalf of U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government, which hoped a glamorous royal tour would underscore efforts to rebuild AngloFrench ties that were frayed by Brexit.

But anger over French President Emmanuel Macron’s resolve to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64 are clouding what was meant to be a show of bonhomie and friendship. Instead, the visit by Charles is being seen as an unnecessary display of hereditary privilege.

“It’s very bad timing. Normally the French would welcome a British king. But, in this moment, people protesting are on high alert for any sign of privilege and wealth,” said Paris-based writer Stephen Clarke, the author of “Elizabeth II, Queen of Laughs.”

With piles of uncollected garbage lining the French capital’s once pristine boulevards, observers say the optics could not be worse — for both Charles and Macron.

French labour union CGT announced this week its members at Mobilier National, the institution

‘‘It’s very bad timing. Normally the French would welcome a British king. But, in this moment, people protesting are on high alert for any sign of privilege and wealth.

in charge of providing red carpets, flags and furniture for public buildings, would snub a Sunday reception for the king upon his arrival in Paris.

“We ask our administration to inform the services concerned that we will not provide furnishings, red carpets or flags,” a CGT statement read.

The Elysée Palace, the French president’s official residence, said nonstriking workers would set up the necessary accoutrements for the trip instead.

Months in the making, Charles’s posh itinerary with Queen Consort Camilla for the March 26-29 trip includes a visit to the Musée d’Orsay, a wreath-laying ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe and a lavish dinner at the former royal residence, the Versailles Palace.

“They’re planning on going to Versailles. It does not look good. This seems very 1789,” Clarke said. The opulent Versailles, once the dazzling centre of royal Europe and a focal point of the French Revolution, is an enduring symbol of social inequalities and excess.

Macron is facing a public backlash for pushing through a bill raising the retirement age without a parliamentary vote. Some opponents accuse the president of being out of touch, and Charles hasn’t been spared from similar criticism as protests continued this week.

STEPHEN CLARKE PARIS-BASED WRITER

CANADA & WORLD

en-ca

2023-03-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://thepeexaminerepaper.pressreader.com/article/281702618962875

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