THE KING AND QUEEN’S STATE VISIT TO FRANCE
20-22 September 2023
Their Majesties will travel to France on Wednesday 20th September and depart on Friday 22nd, undertaking engagements in Paris and Bordeaux. Highlights of their programme include:
In Paris:
• The King and Queen will join President and Mrs Macron for a ceremony of remembrance and wreath laying at the Arc de Triomphe, marking the shared sacrifices of the past and an enduring legacy of cooperation.
• His Majesty will have a bilateral meeting with President Macron at the Elysée Palace.
• Their Majesties will be guests of honour at a black-tie state banquet hosted at the Palace of Versailles by President and Mrs Macron.
• Their Majesties will meet community sports groups and well-known sports stars, to show the benefits sport can bring, particularly to young people, as France hosts the Rugby World Cup 2023.
• The King will address senators and members of the National Assembly at the French Senate.
• The Queen, together with Mrs Macron, will launch a new Franco-British literary prize at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
• His Majesty and President Macron will attend a sustainability reception for British and French business leaders to hear more about their plans to invest to protect biodiversity and combat climate change.
In Bordeaux:
• His Majesty will meet emergency workers and communities affected by the 2022 Bordeaux wildfires at the Forêt Experimentale, a site designed to monitor the responses of urban forests to climate change.
• Their Majesties will meet UK and French military personnel to hear more about how the two nations are collaborating on defence.
• The King and Queen will attend a GREAT campaign event in Bordeaux, which will showcase British and French businesses and will provide an opportunity for Their Majesties to meet members of the French and British communities in the city.
• The royal couple will tour an organic vineyard, which has pioneered a sustainable approach to wine making.
Previous visits to France
This will be the King’s 35th official visit to France and the Queen’s 9th. Their Majesties last visited France in 2019, attending a service in Bayeux Cathedral to mark the 75th anniversary of the Normandy Landings.
Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, last undertook a state visit to France in 2014.
