Britain and France look to reset ties with state visit

BSS, London :

British head of state King Charles III’s upcoming visit to France will underscore historic close relations between the two countries, London and Paris said on Wednesday.

Ties between the two neighbours have been strained in recent years, largely over the UK’s exit from the European Union but also migrants crossing the Channel from France in small boats.

Charles’s state visit to Paris and Bordeaux on September 20-22 is being seen as part of a wider reset between the G7 and NATO allies that began under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

“The State Visit will celebrate Britain’s relationship with France, marking our shared histories, culture and values,” deputy private secretary to the king, Chris Fitzgerald, told reporters.

“It will also provide an opportunity to look forwards and demonstrate the many ways the UK and France are working together.”

A senior UK foreign office official said relations had been “steadily improving” since Sunak and his senior ministers travelled to Paris in March for a bilateral summit with their French counterparts.

Sunak’s relationship with Macron — who also has a background in finance — is markedly different from his controversial predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

At one point, Truss even said “the jury’s out” on whether the French leader was a “friend or foe” of the UK. In Paris, Macron’s office called the visit “an honour for France and illustrates the depth of the historic ties that unite our two countries”.

The Elysee also played up the personal relationship between Macron and Charles, even before he became king last September.

The visit “symbolises the relationship of friendship and trust between the President of the Republic and His Majesty the King”, it added.

Macron, whose tribute to Charles’s mother Queen Elizabeth II after her death was well-received in the UK, made an open invitation to the new monarch to visit France at her funeral.