French President Emmanuel Macron began a three-day state visit to Britain on Tuesday, July 8, which will see him address parliament and try to rekindle a purportedly warm relationship with King Charles III. Macron and his wife Brigitte were greeted off the presidential plane at an air base northwest of London by heir-to-the-throne Prince William and his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales.
Macron hailed an "important moment for our two nations" on X. "Together, we will address the major challenges of our time: security, defense, nuclear energy, space, innovation, artificial intelligence, migration, and culture," he posted, vowing to "deepen our cooperation in a concrete, effective, and lasting way."
It is the first state visit by an European Union head of state since Brexit – the United Kingdom's (UK) acrimonious 2020 departure from the bloc – and the first by a French president since Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008. During the visit, Macron will hold several meetings with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who promised to reset relations with European capitals when he took power in 2024 after years of Brexit-fuelled tension. Calling it "historic," Starmer's office said the visit would showcase "the breadth of the existing relationship" between Britain and France.
Macron's Francophile host King Charles has called ties with Britain's cross-Channel neighbor "indispensable" and the two men are believed to have a warm rapport. The king made a 2023 state visit to France, one of his first after ascending the throne and widely regarded as a success. Macron was due to first travel to Windsor Castle to meet the king and his wife, Queen Camilla. The French leader and his wife will enjoy various displays of British pomp and pageantry, including lunch and later a banquet at the castle.
"Our two countries face a multitude of complex threats, emanating from multiple directions. As friends and as allies, we face them together," King Charles is due to tell Macron at the banquet, according to a press release from Buckingham Palace.
Macron will follow in the footsteps of predecessors Charles de Gaulle and François Mitterrand by addressing lawmakers in the UK parliament. On Wednesday, Macron will have lunch with Starmer and the two leaders will also co-host on Thursday the 37th Franco-British Summit, where they are set to discuss opportunities to strengthen defense ties.
Britain and France are spearheading talks among a 30-nation coalition on how to support a possible ceasefire in Ukraine, including potentially deploying peacekeeping forces. The two leaders will dial in to a meeting of the coalition on Thursday "to discuss stepping up support for Ukraine and further increasing pressure on Russia," Starmer's office confirmed on Monday. They will speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to the French presidency.
Irregular migration is also set to feature in talks between Macron and Starmer. The British leader is under intense pressure to curb cross-Channel arrivals, as Eurosceptic Nigel Farage's hard-right Reform UK party uses the issue to fuel its rise. London has for years pressed Paris to do more to halt the boats leaving from northern French beaches, welcoming footage last Friday showing French police stopping one such boat from departing.