Macron state visit: King and Queen give French President royal welcome
Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, are spending the next three days in London and Windsor, the first visit of a European Union leader since the acrimonious Brexit process.
The couple were greeted by Prince William and Kate as they landed at RAF Northolt on Tuesday morning, before travelling to Windsor to meet the King and Queen
The Royal Family is being deployed in force to repair relations with the UK's closest neighbour, and the government hopes to find ways through some thorny issues, like small boat crossings and the defence of Europe following Donald Trump's return to the White House.
Tonight, at a State Banquet at Windsor Castle, King Charles will deliver a speech to a room full of British and French politicians and celebrities.
He'll tell the audience in the vast St George's Hall inside the castle that the UK and France face a multitude of complex threats, emanating from multiple directions.'
But he will say as friends, neighbours and allies the two countries can 'face them together.'
The visit began with an arrival at RAF Northolt, before the President and his wife were escorted on the drive to Windsor by the Prince and Princess of Wales.
In Windsor itself, a dais has been set up outside Windsor and Eton Riverside train station, draped in the French and British flags for the ceremonial welcome and inspection of the troops.
King Charles and Queen Camilla will then travel in carriages with their guests of honour up the hill and into the castle grounds.
Crowds were starting to gather along the route from early this morning.
It's the first state visit to take place in Windsor since 2014, when the Irish President was here.
State Visits, normally take place in London, but the major renovation works at Buckingham Palace have forced them to relocate to Windsor.
That will include the big official visit of President Donald Trump, which is planned for September.
A Royal Salute will be fired both in Home Park at Windsor and at the Tower of London upon the President's arrival at the Royal Dais.
After they have travelled by carriage into the Quadrangle of Windsor Castle, a Guard of Honour will be waiting for them and the regimental band will play the French and British National Anthems.
Other members of the Royal Family will attend the lunch and then, in the Green Drawing Room, the guests are shown items from the Royal Collection, a tradition for all state visits, which have a particular significance to the visiting head of state and his or her country's shared history with the UK.
A few events are then planned in London, where the Royal Family hand over the guests to Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.
Monsieur Macron will make a speech to MPs and members of the House of Lords, much of which is expected to be in English.
The politics of this visit and the final discussions about small boat crossings and defence alliances will be parked until later in the visit.
There will be talks with the Prime Minister on Wednesday and a formal UK-France summit on Thursday.
But the first day is all about the royal welcome.
The State Banquet will provide another opportunity for speeches and kind words.
Senior ministers are hoping the Royal Family will, in their usual way, wrap their guests in a blanket of so-called 'soft power'.
After a bumpy few years with Prime Ministers including David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, the current administration is keen to repair relations to help with the Prime Minister's priorities of economic growth and stemming the flow of illegal migration.
'For centuries our citizens have admired each other, amused each other, and imitated each other, ' the King is expected to say.
He will talk about being 'in awe of France's extraordinary attributes and achievements.'
The last time a French President had a State Visit here was in 2008, when Nicholas Sarkozy was a guest of Queen Elizabeth II.
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