Mick Jagger and Elton John top star-studded guest list for French state banquet
Sir Elton, who is known for hosting his own annual white-tie and tiara charity ball, was among the 160 guests who gathered at the King's royal white-tie affair in honour of French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte.
Both musicians have homes in France and Sir Elton also has a home in nearby Old Windsor.
Sir Elton famously sang Candle In The Wind, rewritten as Goodbye England's Rose, at the funeral of the King's first wife Diana, Princess of Wales, and he has a close bond with the Duke of Sussex – Charles's youngest son with whom the King has a troubled relationship.
Other notable invitees who turned out for the glittering banquet with Charles, the Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales were actress Dame Kristin Scott Thomas, former England goalkeeper Mary Earps, who now plays for Paris Saint-Germain, authors Joanne Harris and Sebastian Faulks, sculptor Sir Antony Gormley and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Lady Victoria Starmer.
The King was seated between Mr Macron and French culture minister Rachida Dati, while Kate – attending her first state banquet in nearly two years – was on the other side of the French president and also next to art historian Christophe Leribault, chairman of the Musee D'Orsay.
The Queen was on the other side of the table, between Mrs Macron and French armed forces minister Sebastien Lecornu.
On the other side of first lady Brigitte was heir to the throne William.
Sir Mick, whose formal white place card read 'Sir Michael Jagger', was seated between Dame Kristin and Alice Rufo, director general for international relations and strategy of the French ministry for the armed forces.
Sir Elton, who has severe vision issues after contracting an eye infection, was seated next to his husband, rather than apart which is usually the custom for couples at royal banquets.
On Sir Elton's other side was the Duchess of Gloucester, while Sir Keir was next to footballer Ms Earps.
Also making an appearance was First Dates' Fred Sirieix, as well as the French singer Mika, who was sat next to the Duchess of Edinburgh.
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Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
How love and taxes made Mick Jagger rock's biggest Francophile
All the usual suspects were present at Tuesday night's state banquet in Windsor Castle's St George's Hall in honour of French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte. The King and Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales rubbed shoulders with diplomats and dignitaries as they tucked into a Raymond Blanc-designed menu and sipped a special gin and pastis cocktail called L'entente. But one of the more unexpected faces among the 160 guests was that of Sir Mick Jagger, the Rolling Stones frontman, who was seated just five places to the right of Macron. White of tie and flanked by royalty, the rocker who once released an album called Beggars Banquet found himself dining in altogether more salubrious circumstances. It's not the first time Jagger has been part of a high-end Anglo-French nosh-up. In 2023 he was among the celebrities who joined the King and Macron at a state dinner at the Palace of Versailles. The truth is that Dartford-born Jagger is a huge Francophile. Despite symbolising a sort of louche and moneyed Britishness, and in spite of an accent that has steadfastly stuck to its Thames Estuary origins, the 81-year-old's love affair with France stretches back decades. Jagger is fluent in French, as he demonstrated in an impressive 10-minute 2023 TV interview conducted in the language, an exchange in which he talked lucidly about the Beatles-Stones rivalry and extolled the virtues of London rapper Dave. He also owns a French château (obviously), having paid £2.2 million for a 16th-century castle, La Fourchette, on the banks of the Loire in 1982. Jagger quarantined there during the pandemic, and he's often seen shopping in the local shops, or riding a mountain bike through the country lanes. During last summer's Olympics in Paris, Jagger's was a face that regularly popped up on telly. He even attended a reception at the British Ambassador's residence to welcome Team GB as the games started, posing for selfies with the athletes. 'I spoke French from when I was a child, from when I was 11, in school and then I used to travel to France – my parents would take me,' Jagger explained in 2023. The terroir seemed to seep into his early life and career, even if subconsciously. Jagger attended the London School of Economics, modelled on L'École Libre des Sciences Politiques in Paris. And rather than embracing the 1960s clichés of Swinging London, the Stones worked with avant-garde Parisian director Jean-Luc Godard on their experimental 1968 film Sympathy for the Devil, Godard's first English-language film. But the singer's connections with France were really made for a brace of reasons two years later: love and tax. At the end of September 1970 Jagger met 25-year-old Nicaraguan Blanca Pérez-Mora Macías (later Bianca Jagger) at a Stones aftershow party on the executive floor of Paris's Hotel George V. Jagger had recently split up with Marianne Faithfull and it wasn't long before he and Macías, who'd moved to Paris in 1961, were an item. This was confirmed in the eyes of the world's media when the pair enjoyed a fortnight's holiday in Nassau that November. The second reason was more prosaic. Taxes for the rich in Britain were sky-high in 1971 so the Stones, and many other high-earning musicians, left the country. 'The tax rate in the early 1970s on the highest earners was 83 per cent,' Stones guitarist Keith Richards wrote in his autobiography Life, 'And that went up to 98 per cent for investments and so-called unearned income. So that's the same as being told to leave the country.' The band toyed with moving to the Channel Islands (too dreary) but settled on France. With families in tow, they scattered themselves around the south of France in April 1971, just days before the new tax year started. Drummer Charlie Watts went to Vaucluse, guitarist Mick Taylor to St Tropez, Jagger to a château once owned by Pablo Picasso near Biot, bassist Bill Wyman to Grasse and Richards to the sprawling – and soon to be infamous – Villa Nellcôte in Villefranche-sur-Mer. As Jagger's unauthorised biographer Alan Clayson put it: 'The reason for relocating to the Côte D'Azur wasn't the sunshine but because, despite the huge takings for the 1969 North American [tour], the Stones' revenue for the fiscal year had been overestimated. Expenditure exceeded income at a rate that couldn't cover [the tax bill].' With matters of the heart and the wallet drawing him to France, Jagger's residency there coalesced around two key events in the summer of 1971. It was in Richards's rented Villa Nellcôte – all tall ceilings, statues and period furniture – that the band recorded what is widely held up as their finest album, the raggedy Exile on Main St. The band never intended to use the house as a recording studio: they'd looked for facilities in Nice or Cannes to no avail. So a warren of tiny rooms in the mansion's basement became their makeshift studio (the place was a former Gestapo HQ), with leads and cables trailing out of the windows to the band's mobile recording studio parked outside, itself illegally jacked up to the French railway system's electricity supply. Although technically the home of Richards, his partner Anita Pallenberg and their young son Marlon, the villa attracted all manner of guests, including country music star Gram Parsons. It became the smartest sleazy guest house in Europe. A local boy known as Fat Jack was employed as the chef, while Richards kept a 20-foot mahogany Riva motorboat on a jetty at the bottom of some cliffside stairs, enabling the band to nip out to lunch down the riviera. Photos from that summer of Jagger and Richards taken by photographer Dominique Tarlé, who was invited to Nellcôte for a day but stayed for six months, ooze a rakish grandiosity that remains unsurpassed in rock 'n' roll photography. 'Incredible alchemy,' was how Tarlé described what he found there. One week, Jagger and Stones saxophonist Bobby Keys roamed the French coast on Honda 350 motorbikes, having been unable to locate Harley-Davidsons. A helmet-less Jagger is pictured tearing down the bucolic roads in a baseball shirt, local heads turning at the rock star in their midst. The second key event of that summer was Jagger's marriage to Macías. It took place on May 12 in St Tropez with ceremonies in both the local council office and the Roman Catholic church. It was a star-studded event with the likes of Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Stephen Stills flying in specifically, most with their partners and kids with them. Pictures, again by Tarlé, show the biggest tower of profiteroles you've ever seen. As Richards noted, somewhat witheringly: 'Mick arranged what he saw as a quiet wedding, for which he chose St Tropez at the height of the season. No journalist stayed at home.' While these two events marked Jagger's highest-profile French escapades, his love affair with the country was far from over. In October 1971, his and Bianca's daughter Jade was born in Paris's Belvedere Nursing Home. The Stones frontman is often seen at Paris Fashion Week (as, these days, are his offspring). And, this being Jagger, matters of the heart are often linked to the City of Light. In the 1990s, he reportedly had an affair with model Carla Bruni, who would go on – years later – to become the first lady of France through her marriage to Nicolas Sarkozy. 'I thought I'd never get over it,' Bruni is quoted as saying in Christopher Andersen's 2012 biography, The Wild Life and Mad Genius of Jagger. Jagger's son with long-term partner Melanie Hamrick is called Deveraux, a common French surname. Yet rather than have Sympathy for the Deveraux, we should embrace Jagger's clear Francophilia. Britain's relations with France have often been strained, as Macron himself has suggested on this visit. So with all his French ties, it's no wonder that Jagger is a willing vessel of soft power to smooth cross-channel bonds. He should keep sipping at the L'entente. Satisfaction guaranteed.
Daily Mirror
5 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Camilla rushes to Wimbledon for surprise appearance after back-to-back duties
After a busy morning of royal engagements at both Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace, Camilla made the journey down to SW19 for the tenth day of the tennis tournament Queen Camilla has taken time out of her busy schedule to make a surprise appearance at Wimbledon, after a morning filled with royal engagements. Camilla spent the morning bidding farewell to French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte as they made their way from Windsor to London to continue their three-day state visit. Following the ceremonial farewell to the French leader, Camilla made her way to Buckingham Palace to attend a reception to celebrate 40 years of artists accompanying official overseas visits. King Charles and Queen Camilla viewed an exhibition featuring the work of 43 artists who have joined The King on 70 official visits across 95 countries and regions. After the conclusion of the ceremony at the Palace, Camilla journeyed down to SW19 to sit back and enjoy an afternoon of tennis in the sunshine. Accompanied by her sister Annabel Elliot, Camilla was introduced to key staff members as she arrived at Wimbledon, including Will Brierley, Lead Groundsperson, who has dedicated 20 years of service to the Club and is responsible for maintaining the Championship Courts. She also met Lead Gardener Robin Murphy, who has recently celebrated 20 years of service and has worked tirelessly to maintain the more than 50,000 plants during the recent hot weather; and Malin Lundin, Collections Manager, who has been instrumental in bringing Wimbledon's rich history to life through displays that welcome both players and guests to the iconic courts.x Before heading to Centre Court to soak up the action of the men's quarter finals, Camilla met with Serbian tennis champion Novak Djokovic, who will face Italian player Flavio Cobolli in his next match. Camilla shook Djokovic's hand as she remarked: 'Oh what a treat, how nice to see you. It's lovely to see you,' before saying she had her "fingers crossed" for him in the showdown match, to which he responded: 'It will be my great honour. I appreciate it.' Queen Camilla also met American tennis star Billie Jean King before entering Centre Court, as she told the former tennis player: 'It's very nice to see you still going strong.' King replied: 'You are too,' to which Camilla then joked: 'We try, don't we.' King added: 'Thank you for being here. It means a lot to us.' Camilla's appearance at Wimbledon comes after several days of many royal engagements. On Tuesday, King Charles and Queen Camilla welcomed French president Emmanuel Macron to the UK as they arrived for their three-day state visit. After taking part in an official welcome ceremony outside Windsor Castle, the King and Queen joined the French leader and his wife to view the Royal Collection in the Drawing Room. The first day of the French state visit culminated in a grand state banquet at Windsor Castle, which saw over 160 guests arrive for a white tie dinner. Queen Camilla wore an ivory silk and crepe evening gown by Fiona Clare and a diamond and sapphire tiara that belonged to the late Queen for the glitzy event. She also wore the Legion d'Honeur French sash, Garter Star and the King's family order.
Powys County Times
6 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Charles bids farewell to President Macron during touching goodbye
The King and President Emmanuel Macron enjoyed a long goodbye as the two men bid farewell after a successful start to the French leader's state visit. In a sign of their friendship, Charles and the French leader clasped hands for 28 seconds as they parted company at Windsor Castle when the first element of the three-day trip came to an end. The King and president talked during the handshake which became more poignant when Mr Macron held Charles' hand with both of his for the last few moments. Earlier the president and his wife had spent a private period laying flowers at the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II who was laid to rest at the King George VI Memorial Chapel within the castle's St George's Chapel. At the Windsor Castle state banquet held in Mr Macron's honour on Tuesday night the French leader had paid tribute to the late Queen, saying: 'To you she was your Queen, to us she was the Queen.' The last words spoken between the King and his guest was their re-branding of the famous entente cordiale to the 'entente amicale' spoken by Charles with Mr Macron replying 'thank you, so much'. They had been joined by Queen Camilla and Brigitte Macron who exchanged goodbye kisses with the men and the foursome posed for a picture before they parted company. The King and Mr Macron had earlier enjoyed a walk around the castle's gardens, with Charles showing his guest areas of work on nature restoration and biodiversity. State visits usually feature an exchange of gifts and Charles presented the president with an oak sapling for the garden of the French residence in London during the tour, a present in response to an oak from Mr Macron gifted during the King's 2023 state visit to France for the British residence in Paris. Charles is a keen watercolourist and he gave the president a set of 12 placemats of scenes from Scotland and France he had painted, and a 1931 edition of John Florio's translation of the works of French Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne. In return, Mr Macron gave the King a copy of the original piano and vocal score of Pelleas et Melisande by Debussy and a Sennelier watercolour set in an inscribed walnut case. Other gifts included a trumpet, made by Couesnon, from the cavalry band of the French Republican Guard and a hamper of produce from the Elysee Palace, including honey from the palace beehives. The two men appeared to be engrossed in the tour as Camilla and Mrs Macron were left waiting for their husbands to view items from the royal mews. A charabanc carriage, gifted to Queen Victoria by King Louis-Philippe of France in 1844, was waiting at the end of the Long Walk and nearby was a 10-year-old dapple grey horse Fabuleu de Maucour, given by the president to the late Queen in 2022 to mark her Platinum Jubilee. When the men arrived, kisses were exchanged but, with Camilla due to visit Wimbledon, and the royal couple attending a Buckingham Palace event, the Queen patted Charles, as she has done in the past, in an apparent bid to hurry him along and keep him on schedule.
