King Charles III on Thursday followed in his mother Queen Elizabeth II's footsteps by addressing lawmakers in the French upper chamber of parliament with a speech calling for strengthened ties to help tackle the world's environmental challenges.
Charles focused on a message of unity between France and the UK, ending with a personal pledge to strengthen what he described as the “indispensable” relationship between the two countries during his time as monarch.
"For the time that is granted to me as king, I pledge to do whatever I can to strengthen the indispensable relationship between the United Kingdom and France," he said.
He emphasised the political, historical and cultural links between the two nations as well as the mutual challenges France and the UK both face. A shared determination and alliance were “more important than ever” in the context of the war in Ukraine, and to protect the world from environmental threats, he said.
Charles suggested that France and Britain should team up to jointly tackle the climate and biodiversity emergencies with a new version of the 1904 Entente Cordiale pact that sealed the friendship between Paris and London.
"I would like to propose it also becomes an 'Entente pour la Durabilité' (Partnership for Sustainability) in order to tackle the global climate and biodiversity emergency more effectively," he said.
The king also referenced the late Queen Elizabeth II, herself a popular figure in France, who addressed the Senate in 2004. Charles thanked France for the “great kindness” it had shown the royal family and the UK following her death in September 2022.
The king’s speech, which he delivered in English and French, received a warm reception from French lawmakers, who gave a standing ovation as it came to a close.
Charles's speech at the Senate, France's upper house of parliament, was the diplomatic high point of a more informal day.
By coincidence, Charles's latest call on the environment came a day after Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak watered down green policies aimed at achieving net zero carbon emissions by mid-century.
Charles then visited the northern Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, home to the French national stadium used for the current Rugby World Cup and the Olympics next year – meeting residents and visiting its majestic medieval basilica.
He met the president of the Qatari-owned football club Paris Saint-Germain, Nasser al-Khelaifi, who gave Charles a PSG jersey with “Charles” and the number three on the back.
Later on the Ile de la Cité on the River Seine, Charles – a keen gardener who once admitted he talked to his plants – toured a flower market named after Queen Elizabeth II on her last state visit in 2014.
He and Camilla then greeted a crowd of well-wishers while walking to the nearby Notre-Dame Cathedral, which was partially destroyed by a devastating fire in 2019.
Joined again by the Macrons, they were shown the renovation and reconstruction work at the church, visiting in particular a gargoyle workshop.
And at a climate and biodiversity financing conference at the Natural History Museum, Macron hailed Charles’s “clear vision you had and you have” on environmental issues.
The French president is known to have a strong personal rapport with Charles, with both men sharing a love of books.
Commentators in France excitedly noted how Macron repeatedly touched Charles’s shoulder and his wife kissed Camilla, in a new protocol unthinkable under the more distant and austere Elizabeth II.
In one of his final engagements in Paris, Charles was due to meet luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault, head of LVMH and one of the world’s richest men.
Charles’s visit wraps up Friday with a trip to the southwestern city of Bordeaux.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
