LONDON: There are no plans to change King Charles III’s state visit next week to France, which is being rocked by social disorder, the UK government said Thursday.
“We certainly don’t get into the realms of dictating that sort of thing to His Majesty. That will be a decision for them,“ Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman told reporters.
But he added: “I’m not aware of any plans to change the plan.”
Charles and his wife Camilla are due to be in France from Sunday to Wednesday, and then in Germany, for the first state visits abroad of his reign following the death last September of Queen Elizabeth II.
Charles will join President Emmanuel Macron for a ceremony of remembrance at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and for a banquet at the Palace of Versailles, before heading on to Bordeaux in the southwest.
Some French opposition politicians have queried whether the trip should go ahead as anti-Macron protesters clash with riot police. Charles risks facing rubbish-strewn streets and transport strikes.
The visit comes after Macron met Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for a bilateral summit in Paris earlier this month.
Political ties between the two countries have been strained in recent years by the fall-out from the UK’s exit from the European Union.
Organisers of the royal visit on both sides have said they are monitoring the current unrest. -AFP
