HM The Queen’s State Visit to the Republic of France
In early June this year to mark
the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy H.M. Queen
Elizabeth joined by HRH The Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh; HRH The Prince
Charles, Prince of Wales; HRH The Princess Charles, Duchess of Cornwall; HRH
The Prince William, Duke of Cambridge; HRH The Princess William, Duchess of
Cambridge carried out a State visit to the Republic of France at the invitation
of the President of the Republic of France.
Her Majesty’s First Secretary of
State and Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs The Right
Hon. William Hague FRSL, MP, also escorted H.M..
H.M. The Queen and HRH The Duke
of Edinburgh departed the United Kingdom on the train via the Euro Tunnel after
unveiling a plaque at St. Pancreas station, London, to make the 20th
anniversary of the completion of the Euro Tunnel project and arrived shortly
thereafter at the Gare de Nord in Paris.
When H.M.’s motorcade arrived at
the Arc de Triomphe the President of the Republic of France, President Hollande
with full military honours, officially greeted her. The Queen and the President
then proceeded to lay a wreath and rekindled the flame at the tomb of the
unknown solder to commemorate the sacrifice of solders of both countries before
meeting with veterans who had assembled to honour their fallen comrades.
Her Majesty, HRH The Duke of
Edinburgh and President Hollande were escorted by 146 members of the French
Republican Guard as they drove down the Champs-Elysees towards the Elysee
Palace lined with thousands of people whom came out too see the Queen’s fifth
State Visit to France.
Upon arrival at the Elysee Palace
the President had a private audience with HM and the Duke of Edinburgh during
which he was invested into the Order of the Bath at the rank of Knight Grand
Cross before formally exchanging gifts that is customary during State Visits.
As the first day of the State
Visit drew to an end HM Ambassador to France, H.E. Sir Peter Ricketts GCMG
hosted a birthday party for the Queen at the British residence in Paris.
The following morning, June 6th,
the anniversary of the Allied landings on the beaches of Normandy HM joined
with other members of the Royal Family took part in events across the region
marking the anniversary alongside delegations from the other Allied nations
including the President of the United States of America, HM’s British Prime
Minister, HM’s Canadian Prime Minister, HM’s Australian Prime Minister and HM’s
representative for New Zealand.
In the morning HM was joined by
the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at the
Royal British Legion Service of Remembrance at Bayeux Cemetery in Normandy
where they were joined by some 400 veterans from the United Kingdom, Canada,
New Zealand and the Commonwealth of Australia among 4,144 of their fallen
comrades. The D-Day landings were to commence what was to turn out to be an
80-day campaign to liberate Normandy involving 3 million men of whom 250,000
were to lose their lives. The Queen laid a wreath for those who made the
ultimate sacrifice to free Europe followed by the sounding of the Last Post and
a minute’s silence after which the Royal Family met with the veterans.
The day concluded with a formal
State Dinner in Paris where the Queen made a very moving speech in both English
and French.
On the final day of the State
Visit the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh met with the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo,
before they visited the world famous Marche aux Fleurs which was re-named Marche
aux Fleurs – Reine Elizabeth II in honour of HM. While at the market the Queen met with charity cyclists who
are raising funds for the charity Help for Hero’s who are biking between the
European capital and London via Paris and World War One battlefields. While the
Queen and the President were walking around the market and viewing all the
beautiful flowers the Duke of Edinburgh was outside the market meeting and
talking with school children.
Images from www.Royal.gov.uk
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