No red carpet? French unrest impacts King Charles’ first overseas trip as Britain’s monarch

Striking workers are refusing to roll out a red carpet amid pension reform protests and calls for Charles’ visit to be cancelled altogether

Charles is expected in France on Sunday on behalf of the British government, which hoped a royal tour would underscore efforts to rebuild Anglo-French ties

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Britain’s King Charles in London on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:36am, 24 Mar 2023Updated: 8:24am, 24 Mar 2023

Unrest in France is tarnishing the sheen of King Charles’ first overseas trip as Britain’s monarch, with striking workers refusing to roll out a red carpet amid pension reform protests and calls for the visit to be cancelled altogether.

Charles is expected to undertake the trip beginning on Sunday on behalf of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government, which hoped a glamorous royal tour would underscore efforts to rebuild Anglo-French ties that were frayed by the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.

But anger over French President Emmanuel Macron’s resolve to increase the retirement age by two years are clouding what was meant to be a show of bonhomie and friendship. Instead, Charles’ visit is being seen as an unnecessary display of hereditary privilege.

“It’s very bad timing. Normally the French would welcome a British king. But in this moment, people protesting are on high alert for any sign of privilege and wealth,” Paris-based writer Stephen Clarke, the author of Elizabeth II, Queen of Laughs, said.

With piles of uncollected rubbish lining the French capital’s once-pristine boulevards, observers say the optics could not be worse – for both Charles and his host Macron.

French labour union CGT announced this week that its members at Mobilier National, the institution in charge of providing red carpets, flags and furniture for public buildings, would snub a Sunday reception for the king upon his arrival in Paris.