Displays a framed photo of Charles III in a shop window.

Nellie Moneret

[This article features excerpts from a series of interviews conducted by Nellie Moneret]

This week, King Charles III’s popularity and influence across the Channel will be tested during his state visit.

Charles III first visit as Monarch

France is welcoming King Charles III this week for his first visit across the Channel as monarch. The state visit was supposed to take place six months ago. However, it was postponed due to the demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla will spend three days in Paris and one in Bordeaux. They will visit the Champs Elysée, have a bilateral meeting with President Macron at the Elysée Palace, dine in Versailles, address the Senators and members of the National Assembly at the French Senate and tour an organic vineyard, among other things.

Monarchy in France

Seventy-five years ago, a young Princess Elizabeth chose France, a profoundly Republican country, as her first official visit. This was to the joy of many French people, whose interest in the British Monarchy can be traced back to Queen Victoria.

The announcement of Queen Elizabeth II’s death last year touched many people across the Channel, who echoed on social media the words of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne when she declared the French “were also mourning.”

However, a poll conducted by Odexa in September 2022 for the French newspaper Le Figaro revealed that 55 per cent of respondents believed the monarchy is “outdated.” To add insult to injury, King Charles III and Queen Camilla were far behind Queen Elizabeth II’s popularity rate (85 per cent) at 55 per cent and 41 per cent respectively.

The memory of Diana

For Kevin Guillot, a French journalist and historian specialising in the British Monarchy, the French population’s interest in the monarchy has declined since the coronation of Charles III.

He said: “All the pageantry and aura surrounding the British Monarchy make it quite successful in France, in addition to the fact that Queen Elizabeth II and Charles III are Francophiles. However, something seems to have ‘broken’ in the bond between the French and the monarchy since the death of Elizabeth II.

“Some people in France are still against Charles III because of what happened between him and Diana Spencer.”

“Others are not used to Charles becoming King, given the length of time Queen Elizabeth II reigned.”

Mr. Guillot runs a news website, Monarchie Britannique, dedicated to the institution. He has noticed that strong defenders of Lady Di, as she is still commonly referred to in France, couldn’t imagine the King on the throne alongside Queen Camilla.

“Following the successful campaign of Mark Bolland, the British people have eventually rekindled the cause of Charles after Diana’s death. But this is unimaginable to some French people as Diana is still very popular in France: she died in Paris and kept an aura of ‘Queen of Hearts’ in France after all this time,” he added.

Others are not used to Charles becoming King, given the length of time Queen Elizabeth II reigned.

Christine Evrard, a 50-year-old administrator from Poissy, grew up reading her grandmother’s magazines on the monarchy and found the transition difficult.

“Elizabeth II was like my queen — she was The Queen — and now I don’t have the same enthusiasm for the monarchy. I never thought Charles would be king one day, but maybe it will become easier with time.”

The long reign of Queen Elizabeth II

For Valentin Bondis, a 23-year-old student from Marnes-la-Coquette, this decline in French interest can also be explained by the very long and historical reign of the Queen.

Bondis said: “There was more interest in Elizabeth II because she had served as the monarch for so long, and the French like to compare the duration of her reign with Louis XIV’s, but Charles’ reign has just started.”

“We’ve been talking much more about Prince Harry in recent months”

Valérie Godard, a 58-year-old hospital executive from Paris, feels apprehensive about the monarchy’s future under Charles III. “He’s quite modern and progressive on some things, like ecology, but the job doesn’t seem right for him in some aspects.”

Ms Godard’s family has had a historic interest in the monarchy since her aunt wrote to the Palace in the 1950s and received a letter of congratulations for giving birth on the same day as Elizabeth II, as was customary.

She added: “But Charles is still somehow mired in tradition and I wonder if the majority of the British population will accept that nothing changes over time.”

Charles III image in French media

Before the Queen’s passing, the French media contributed to cultivating public interest in Lady Diana and Elizabeth II, rather than Charles.

According to Mr Guillot, the only French documentary dedicated to Charles before the Queen’s death was from Secrets d’Histoire, a famous TV programme exploring historical figures.

Guillot said: “The media knew they wouldn’t profit much from focusing on Prince Charles back then. However, following the Queen’s death, many documentaries about Charles III have emerged, and I have noticed a change in French people who start to open up a bit more about him.”

Ms Evrard, however, hasn’t felt this change. She said: “I don’t read much about the monarchy anymore, and the newspapers don’t write much about him. We’ve been talking much more about Prince Harry in recent months.”

Mr Guillot is nonetheless confident the King’s visit to France will help revive his fellow citizens’ interest in the monarchy. He hoped that “the French will see that Charles III loves France, speaks our language perfectly and enjoys our wine and culture.

“All the aspects of his complex personality, which have long been overlooked here, may help revive the French public’s interest in the British Monarchy.”

Mr Bondis, who intermittently works on the weekends at the Palace of Versailles, where President Macron will host the King on September 20, echoed this feeling: “The Queen had an essential link with France, and I think people here are waiting to see how it will look with Charles. We knew the Prince, but are yet to know the King.”

READ NEXT:

Featured image courtesy of Ottr Dan via Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *