Visiting France, King Charles III addressed French senators on Thursday, September 21, a day after a dinner with President Emmanuel Macron at the Château de Versailles. No British sovereign before him had addressed the Upper House of Parliament. During his speech, he spoke of the urgent need to tackle climate change, as well as the importance of the Franco-British relationship.
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King Charles III, seeking to establish his international image a year after his accession to the throne, attempted to leave his political mark in a speech to French parliamentarians on Thursday, September 21, the second day of a state visit to Paris.
This is a first for a British sovereign. In 2004, her mother Elizabeth II gave a speech in the Senate Conference Room, before a meeting of deputies and senators, but not in the Chamber.
“The United Kingdom will always be one of France’s closest allies and best friends,” Charles III said in a speech in French and English. The sovereign remembered the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and thanked France for its support.
“I look forward to continuing to forge ties between our two countries, with determination, with hope and with love,” he said, pledging to “do everything in our power to strengthen the indispensable relationship between the United Kingdom and France.”
“Together, our potential is unlimited”
Next, the king referred to the conflict in Ukraine and the climate emergency. “Together, our potential is unlimited. That is why we must care for and nourish our cordial entente (friendly relationship). For future generations, so that it also becomes an Agreement for Sustainability that allows us to respond more effectively to the climate and biodiversity emergency world,” continued King Charles, whose environmental convictions are firmly rooted.
The British monarch was inspired by Entente Cordialea text signed by the two countries in 1904 to iron out their very strong differences at that time, and justified this initiative in the name of “the example of the past” to “face the immense challenges of the world around us.”
This statement comes as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Wednesday the postponement of several key measures of the United Kingdom’s climate policy, a decision condemned in economic circles and even within the conservatives in power.
Regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in a speech to the French Senate on Thursday, he pledged the “unwavering determination” of the United Kingdom and France to see Ukraine “succeed.”
At the end of his 20-minute speech, Charles III received a standing ovation from the French parliamentarians. “Applause that would make us dream,” commented the president of the French Senate, Gérard Larcher.
Meanwhile, Queen Camilla Parker and Brigitte Macron visited the National Library, where they presented a literary award.
With AFP
This article was adapted from its original in French
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