King Charles postpones trip to France with Camilla – his first state visit as monarch – amid violent protests over retirement age reforms, Emmanuel Macron’s office confirms
King Charles’ visit to France was sensationally postponed today as Emmanuel Macron struggles to maintain order amid widespread rioting and protests over his pension reforms.
The monarch was due to arrive with the Queen Consort on Sunday for the four-day trip with a state banquet at Versailles on Monday night that the French President’s aides feared could stir up revolutionaries across the Channel.
The decision is said to be made after talks between the French and British authorities – but security experts told MailOnline that because the French police and secret services have primacy for security operation, it will have been their advice to call it off.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “The King and The Queen Consort’s State Visit to France has been postponed. Their Majesties greatly look forward to the opportunity to visit France as soon as dates can be found.”
Charles and Camilla were due to travel from France to Germany for a state visit, from next Wednesday to Friday, and it is understood the visit to Berlin will proceed as planned.
King Charles III, pictured in London yesterday, will not visit France next week due to protests
It came after anti-government thugs were accused of ‘trying to kill police officers’ across France today as arsonists attacked civic buildings including one in a city Charles was set to visit next week.
The chaos was part of a week of disturbances that followed President Macron raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a parliamentary vote.
Outbreaks of violence were reported from Paris to Marseilles overnight from Thursday to Friday, as a fire was lit at the historic City Hall in Bordeaux – where the King and Camilla, the Queen Consort, were heading.
Commenting on 149 police officers being seriously injured and 172 people being arrested across the country, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said extremism was intensifying.
‘There are thugs, often from the far-Left, who want to bring down the state and kill police officers,’ said Mr Darmanin, during a visit to Paris police headquarters.
There at least 140 acts of arson in Paris alone, with one of the most serious attacks being on a residential block close to the Paris Opera.
More than a million people took to the streets on Thursday to protests against the government, as riot police used teargas, baton charges and water canon to bring crowds to order.
Among the injured protesters was a woman who lost her thumb during a riot in the Normandy city of Rouen.
Trade Unions have warned that the violence will get worse unless Mr Macron reverses his pension reforms.
‘The president must change his incomprehensible stubbornness or the situation will get worse,’ said Marylise Leon, of the CFDT union.
The unions had called for further protests next Tuesday, which would have coincided with the King’s visit to the country.
He was due to attend a number of events in Bordeaux and Paris, including making a speech at the Senate, the upper house of the French parliament.
Protesters had already threatened to target the Royal couple, saying he is not welcome in the republic during a period of social chaos.
Beyond riots, anti-Macron protests in France have included some 10,000 tonnes of rubbish building up on the streets of Paris after binmen withdrew their labour
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