Visit of Charles III: PSG jersey, visits at full speed… The story of the king's second day in Paris

REPORT The day ticked all the boxes for royal visits: unusual photos, “small talk” and visits carried out at a leisurely pace, with a few announcements distilled into the program

In the pouring rain, Nasser al-Khelaïfi, the president of PSG, offered a personalized PSG jersey to King Charles. A meeting which had been requested by Buckingham Palace. — Bertrand GUAY/POOL/AFP

• Charles and Camilla made a series of visits between Seine-Saint-Denis and Paris this Thursday. The king met the president of PSG, who gave him a jersey, and gave a speech to the Senate.
• Accompanied by Brigitte Macron, Camilla engaged in a few table tennis exchanges, before going to Notre-Dame with her husband and the presidential couple.
• Charles III and Emmanuel Macron had a final exchange of around 45 minutes this Thursday evening at the Elysée.

A royal trip, whether it takes place at Paris, in a Scottish village or a Commonwealth Caribbean nation, obeys orders. immutable rituals. King Charles and Queen Camilla were to meet personalities committed to their community. So, their questions must be harmless, like their remarks, and the visit must be carried out at full speed.

Arthur Edwards, the Sun photographer who has followed the royal family since 1977, can appear with his camera, while Major Thompson, the king's bodyguard, who has panicked the British press, when it discovered him, had to follow him everywhere dressed in his kilt. The royal couple's second day in the Ile-de-France region, at on the occasion of their three-day state visit to France, did not deviate from this. à these rules.

A little after noon, this Thursday, after a speech by Charles III in the Senate in front of the French parliamentarians where the king pleaded for a new “Agreement” between Paris and London on the climate, Major Thompson thus made his entry behind Charles III into the hall of the Legion of Honor, at St Denis. Brigitte Macron and Camilla preceded them into this room transformed into a gymnasium for the occasion. Schoolchildren and sportspeople from the city were waiting for them on rugby, boxing and ping-pong stands.

Brigitte Macron and Camilla tried their hand at table tennis

A Dionysian step which was not included in the initial visit in the spring, which had been postponed, and which delighted the socialist mayor of the city, Mathieu Hanotin. “If the king comes to see what good is happening in our town, it contributes to changing the image of the town and it brings pride to the town. to the residents,” he explains to the locals. 20 Minutes.

Brigitte Macron and the Queen put on a show for the children and the cameras, exchanging a few table tennis balls. Backhands and forehands which will not earn them an Olympic selection, but which are filmed by the few cameras authorized to do so. follow them into the room. A crowd crowds around them and Charles, who has gone to another stand.

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Seen from the top of the platform placed at the back of the room, where have been With around forty journalists, an impression of the Areopagus dominates. Children, chaperones, cameras and officials, everyone rushes to see the three guests of honor. Idrissa Diabira, president of the Urban Jeunesse Academy association, exchanged a few words with the king: “He asked me’ how long I played? at football, and he said to me: “oh no, not PSG“, seeing my coat».

A joke that Charles III certainly did not repeat about thirty minutes later, when he met Nasser al-Khelafi, the president of PSG, after a quick chat in a café with young people from the Objectif emploi association. A meeting with the president of PSG at Saint-Denis which had been wanted by Buckingham Palace. Accompanied Didier Drogba, formerly of Chelsea, or even Distel Zola, Monaco player, to the delight of the few children who had been authorized to approaching, Nasser al-Khelafi offered the king a jersey flanked by in his name, under the rain which fell continuously all morning.

The small talk, this polite and British art of conversation, the king also made use of it with Distel Zola, invited to the event. as founder of the Banazola Foundation association, which has its headquarters in the city: “He asked me’ where I was playing, he said he was happy to be here. The former Monaco player had toû keep this visit a secret, he confides to 20 Minutes“The embassy team had been in contact with us for three weeks, it was confidential”. This visit to the children and the meeting with the president of PSG did not appear in the official program of the visit communicated to the media. à the press. Even the journalists present on site this morning were not impressed. informed only at the last moment.

Arthur Edwards, the Sun photographer, was he in the secret? In any case, he was one of the rare journalists authorized to do so. accompany the royal couple and the presidential couple on the square in front of Notre-Dame, early in the afternoon. After a visit to the flower markets for Charles and Camilla, the two couples, accompanied by Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, met firefighters who fought the Notre-Dame fire, as well as sculptors working on the Notre-Dame fire. the restoration of the gargoyles. A regulated program to the millimeter like the length of Charles' costumes, brightened up by the millimeter. by the salutes to the two pairs of workers perched on the balustrade of the cathedral. Suddenly, “Boo Macron” are heard. They are caregivers from the Hôtel-Dieu, which runs alongside the cathedral. The door closes as quickly as it opened. The press is there; still held to date a good distance, on a platform in the middle of the Notre-Dame square.

A meeting with Bernard Arnault

Preceded from Major Thompson, the king then leaves in the direction of the natural history museum with the president of the republic. The opportunity for the Elysée to announce a series of private investments in France. to the tune of several million euros in favor of the climate.

Did Charles III also discuss big money with Bernard Arnault? The two men, who had already took part in the state dinner on Wednesday at Versailles, were to meet this Thursday at 5:30 p.m., according to information from RTL.

This trip to Paris would not have been possible. complete without the unveiling of a plaque, a long royal tradition. The French having given thanks to the king, it was the embassy of the United Kingdom which was there this Thursday afternoon.

The second day The Parisian visit of Charles II ends with the Elysée, with a final interview with Emmanuel Macron, the second in two days. After welcoming Charles and Camilla, members of the Republican Guard do not resist the attack. the desire to photograph the gleaming royal Bentley waiting in the courtyard of the presidential palace. With a long handshake with Emmanuel Macron and a kiss with Brigitte Macron, Charles and Camilla left the Elysée at the end of the year. 7:45 p.m. Major Thompson follows them, accompanied by of Buckingham Palace staff. Charles and Emmanuel Macron will not have pronounced a word on the content of the interview. This Friday, the royal couple is heading to Bordeaux, before returning to the United Kingdom in the evening.