The terse announcement came on Friday morning, and it came from Élysée Palace: President Macron and King Charles had spoken on the phone and Macron told Charles not to come to France, that the fiery protests would be a huge security risk and terrible optics. It’s a shame, because Charles really wanted to visit Paris, the city where his ex-wife died, as his first state visit of his reign. Originally, Charles was supposed to arrive today, Sunday, in Paris and spend several days doing big, public events. He was also supposed to have a big state dinner in Versailles. But the French people and French unions are staging massive protests and setting things on fire, so here we are.

What’s particularly “interesting” is watching the British media try to make it all about Macron and not King Charles. While Macron is historically unpopular, no doubt, and he’s the one raising the French retirement age, a big reason why Macron canceled Charles’s visit is because the French protesters were turning their ire on Charles.

The King’s state visit to France was postponed amid increasingly violent protests in Paris, with graffiti daubed on a wall reading: “Charles III do you know the guillotine?” The decision to abandon the tour at the eleventh hour was taken by the French and British governments “after a telephone exchange” between President Emmanuel Macron and the King on Friday morning.

Mr Macron asked for the visit to be postponed as the prospect of him dining alongside the royals at a lavish banquet while his country burned became increasingly untenable. The state banquet was due to take place at the Palace of Versailles but Élysée sources had concerns over its links to the revolt against Louis XVI, who was beheaded.

Mr Macron said “common sense and friendship” led to the “detestable” decision to postpone the King’s visit to France. He told a press conference in French: “I think it would not be responsible and would lack some common sense if we invited His Majesty the King and the Queen Consort for a state visit in the midst of the demonstrations. So, out of friendship, respect and esteem for His Majesty the King and Queen Consort, and for the British people, I took the initiative this morning to call and tell him what the situation was. Common sense and friendship led us to propose a postponement, which was detestable for the British people and for us.”

Mr Macron suggested that the new date for the King’s visit to France would be in the “early summer”. He said “We have proposed that, in early summer, depending on our respective agendas, we can together arrange a new state visit.” He said it should be under conditions that would allow the monarch to “enjoy France”.

[From The Telegraph]

Yeah – the guillotine references were enough to make Charles sh-t himself. Nevermind the fact that French union bosses were name-checking him and making very specific plans to demonstrate around his visit. Royal historian Tessa Dunlop said much the same thing – that this was canceled mostly due to “terrible optics”: “The last thing the French President needed was another security hazard, especially in the form of a 74-year-old working King from a country where the retirement age has already been raised to a hardcore 68 for future generations.” LOL. Dunlop also name-checked Prince Harry: “As for Charles, after a turbulent first few months as monarch thanks to Prince Harry’s verbal protests and a few frenzied egg throwers in Britain, he was not in the market for a French upgrade to tear gas, water cannon and cobblestones. But the trip’s postponement is a blow for the new King.” “Frenzied egg-throwers” – there were like three egg tossers and they all had a very rational explanation for their egg protests: they are republicans who hate the monarchy. Nothing frenzied about that.

What else… Richard Fitzwilliams said Macron had been “humiliated” by the protesters and that the Versailles dinner would have been MACRON’S “Marie Antoinette moment.” Like… it would have been a Marie Antoinette moment, for sure, but more for Charles and Camilla.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.