King Charles urges stronger France-UK ties, partnership on climate change

Paris: Britain’s King Charles III has pledged to do everything he can during his reign to strengthen the relationship between France and the United Kingdom, suggesting the two countries should team up to tackle the climate crisis.

“For the time that is granted to me as king, I pledge to do whatever I can to strengthen the indispensable relationship between the United Kingdom and France,” he told the French Senate in a keynote address on the second day of a three-day visit on Thursday.

The British monarch also suggested that Paris and London should team up to tackle the climate and biodiversity emergencies with a new version of the 1904 Entente Cordiale pact, which sealed the friendship between the two nations.

“I would like to propose it also becomes an ‘Entente pour la Durabilite’ [Partnership for Sustainability] in order to tackle the global climate and biodiversity emergency more effectively,” Charles told lawmakers in the upper chamber of the French Parliament.

At a lavish state banquet held at the Palace of Versailles on Wednesday evening, Charles issued a similar call for France and the UK to reinvigorate their relations in comments echoed by French President Emmanuel Macron.

It is “incumbent upon us all to reinvigorate our friendship to ensure it is fit for the challenge of this, the 21st century”, Charles said in a toast.

Macron added: “Despite Brexit, … I know, your majesty, that we will continue to write part of the future of our continent together to meet the challenges and to serve the causes we have in common.”

“Our relations have, of course, not always been entirely straightforward,” Charles said in a speech in both English and accented but clearly spoken French that impressed his hosts.

But he set out an optimistic vision of the Entente Cordiale, calling it a “sustainable alliance”.

Later on Thursday, the British monarch will visit the northern Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis – home to the French national stadium used for the Rugby World Cup and the Olympics next year – where he is expected to see residents and sports stars.