LONDON/PARIS — Protests in France may impact plans for Britain’s King Charles’ planned state visit next week, a Buckingham Palace source said on Wednesday.
“We are keeping a close eye on the situation, and are taking advice from the FCDO and the French side, ” the source said, referring to the British foreign ministry. “There may be an impact on logistics.”
President Emmanuel Macron will look to “calm things down” amid growing anger across France over his plans to raise the retirement age in a televised interview on Wednesday.
Rubbish bins and barricades were set ablaze on Tuesday in spontaneous protests in Paris and elsewhere across the country in a sixth night of scuffles with police.
King Charles is due to arrive in France on Sunday for a state visit, his first since becoming monarch.
The visit includes a trip to the Musee d’Orsay art gallery and dinner at the Chateau de Versailles. It also includes events at the Arc de Triomphe before taking the train to the southwestern city of Bordeaux.
— Reporting by Michael Holden, Writing by Farouq Suleiman; Editing by William James, Leigh Thomas