00:00 King Charles III's state visit to France continues this Thursday.
00:04 The monarch is due to address lawmakers from the lower and upper house of parliament at
00:09 the Senate within the hour.
00:11 The speech is likely to reiterate calls for stronger ties between France and the United
00:15 Kingdom.
00:16 Charles and Queen Camilla will later visit the working-class suburb of Saint-Denis to
00:21 meet sports groups before visiting the Notre-Dame Cathedral.
00:25 We can now go across to France 24's Philip Turrell standing by outside the Senate.
00:31 Philip, it seems the King has brought the rainy weather with him here to Paris.
00:37 Talk us through what happened at Versailles last night, that state banquet.
00:41 Who was there and who wasn't there?
00:43 Right, well, you're right about the weather after singing in the rain.
00:48 It's now singing outside the Senate this morning waiting for King Charles to arrive.
00:53 He should be here in about 20 minutes or so from now to make that speech to both houses
00:57 of the French parliament, the Senate and the National Assembly who will be reunited together
01:02 to listen to what he has to say.
01:03 And as far as last night is concerned, we were all outside the Chateau of Versailles
01:08 looking through the railings trying to spot the different personalities as they walked
01:12 up to take part in that scrumptious dinner that was offered by French President Emmanuel
01:18 Macron.
01:19 There was Mick Jagger who was about the only one who actually talked to us and waved and
01:25 said hello.
01:26 There was also Charlotte Gainsbourg, the daughter of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg.
01:31 There was Carol Bouquet, the French actress.
01:34 There was Hugh Grant, the British actor.
01:38 A whole lot of personalities including Jack Long, the former French culture minister under
01:43 François Mitterrand and sports personalities, personalities from the world of showbiz and
01:50 of course personalities from the political world all walking up to take part in that
01:55 dinner.
01:56 And this morning, a little bit earlier on, I was talking to the former British ambassador
01:59 here in Paris, Lord Peter Ricketts, and I said what was the banquet like last night?
02:05 He said it was absolutely wonderful.
02:07 We had lobster for starters.
02:10 We had French chicken for the main dish.
02:12 And we had cheeses from France, including a three-year-old Conte from the Jura region.
02:19 And to finish it all off, there were macarons with strawberries followed by coffee.
02:23 And the wine was absolutely wonderful.
02:26 So a great occasion for everybody last night at the Chateau de Versailles in their surroundings,
02:32 which were constructed for King Louis XIV.
02:34 You're making me hungry there, Philip.
02:36 Let's talk about the speech which King Charles is due to deliver.
02:40 Obviously the speech comes after the United Kingdom has left the European Union.
02:48 That's true.
02:49 And there are reasons to believe that this will be a fairly political speech.
02:54 Last night, the king made a toast during the dinner at Versailles where he talked about
03:01 the war in Ukraine, about the differences between France and the European Union and
03:08 the United Kingdom.
03:10 There was no mention of Brexit word for word.
03:13 But the king did pay homage to the relationship between Britain and France.
03:17 He was particularly touched by the comments that were made by the French about his late
03:22 mother, the fact that she was so fond of France and that in homage to her there were many
03:29 people sending messages.
03:31 And also the Union Jack flag was hoisted above the Élysée Palace.
03:37 So I think this is quite a memorable visit for the king here, his first to France as
03:44 king of the United Kingdom.
03:47 And of course it's symbolic, but it also has a knock-on effect on industry.
03:52 It's always good for bilateral relations.
03:54 And after his first state visit was to Germany earlier this year, there are reports of an
03:58 increase in bilateral exchanges and economic exchanges as well.
04:03 And I think that's what everybody here is hoping will be the result of this visit to
04:07 France by King Charles III, which continues today here in Paris and which carries on tomorrow
04:12 when the king and Queen Camilla travel to Bordeaux.
04:15 Philip, what's on the agenda for today?
04:19 After the speech, of course.
04:20 So today, after the speech, yes, after the speech here at the Senate, the king will then
04:27 travel to Notre Dame Cathedral to see the renovation work going on there because he
04:33 has been one of the major supporters of the reconstruction of Notre Dame.
04:37 Remember that the king has always been quite outspoken about architecture and buildings.
04:43 So he's quite keen to go down there to see what is happening with his own eyes.
04:47 Just before that, he will go for a walk through what is called the Marché aux Fleurs, the
04:52 flower market, which is named after his late mother.
04:55 It's now called the Queen Elizabeth II Flower Market on the Ile de la Cité, right in central
05:00 Paris near Notre Dame.
05:02 So there will be a walk through there.
05:04 And then later in the day, his wife, Queen Camilla and Brigitte Macron, will launch a
05:10 new Franco-French literary prize, the first edition of which will be held next year.
05:15 But it will be kicked off this afternoon by Queen Camilla and Brigitte Macron, the wife
05:22 of French President Emmanuel Macron.
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