King Charles’s French visit is the perfect opportunity to heal Brexit rifts

King Charles may be able to save Britain from Brexit failure (Image: Getty) Queen Elizabeth used to say ‘I must be seen to be believed’. She was the most travelled monarch of all time who also hosted 152 state visits during her 70-year reign. This week King Charles and Queen Camilla go to France on a state visit, postponed from March because of civil unrest. Anglo-French relations have famously influenced the history of diplomacy. The legendary Field of the Cloth of Gold, when Henry V111 of England had an unforgettably spectacular summit with Francis 1 of France, was held in 1520. It was the Francophile Edward V11 who contributed to the Entente Cordiale in 1904 which harmonised relations between Britain and France. In 1938, King George V1 and Queen Elizabeth visited France on the eve of war. There was a parade of 50,000 troops at Versailles and her use of a white wardrobe, despite being in mourning, made her a style icon. In the first year of King Charles’s reign, it is extraordinary that he only hosted one state visit, from the President of South Africa and has been on only one abroad, to Germany. This is arranged on the advice of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office who should surely be more active. The benefits of such visits are considerable, especially after Brexit , the media coverage is invariably huge and there are political, trade and cultural benefits. King Charles, when Prince of Wales, was the first major figure to warn of the dangers of climate change and this is invariably reflected in the agenda. The Prince and Princess of Wales are undoubtedly the world’s most sought after royal couple. William has considerable diplomatic skills, he was the first royal to pay an official visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. He recently visited British and Polish troops serving on the border with Ukraine . In 2013, after Russia had annexed Crimea, Prince Charles was reported to have privately compared Russia ‘s President Putin to Hitler whilst in Canada. After the devastation caused by the invasion of Ukraine , the comparison seems apt. It is to be hoped that the Waleses will have a busy schedule overseas next year. Their last substantial foreign tour was in March 2022, when they visited the Caribbean. After the influence of Black Lives Matter and the prominence of the issue of slavery, images from the visit were excoriated as a throwback to the colonial era. When the Lionesses played in the Women’s Football World Cup in Sydney, William, who is President of the Football Association, sent apologies. King Charles and Late Queen during State visit to France in 1972 (Image: Gettty) Had they won they would have been congratulated by Queen Letizia of Spain, who were their rivals, which would have looked ridiculous. Palace sources emphasised the distance, the carbon emissions and the protocol to explain William’s non-appearance. The forthcoming appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer at Kensington Palace will hopefully alter such sclerotic attitudes. William is in New York this week attending a Summit ahead of the Earthshot Prize Awards, which he created to fight climate change and which are being held in Singapore in November. He is continuing his father’s amazing work for the environment. Harry and Meghan, when they found they could not have the royal role they wanted, issued a statement saying ‘service is universal’. This was surely the ultimate in barefaced cheek as it was interpreted as being aimed at the Queen. They only lasted as senior working royals very briefly, announcing their unhappiness to the world when on tour in South Africa, which was outrageous timing. Their interview with Oprah and subsequent attacks on the royal family did further damage. It had been hoped that they would have been the contemporary face of the monarchy, especially in the Commonwealth, the Queen entrusted them with the senior positions in her Commonwealth Trust. Had this worked, given the scale of attention their activities have attracted since, it would have been a great success. Instead, the public rift in the royal family was and is a disaster for all concerned. Diana, Princess of Wales knew how to generate her particular brand of magic internationally. Her work for HIV/AIDS sufferers, campaign against landmines and work for those less fortunate has become famous. A state visit to Britain is highly coveted by foreign heads of state. It has been especially beneficial for Britain’s transatlantic relationship. Appreciative guests included President Reagan during the Falklands War who specifically asked to go riding with the Queen, the Obamas, with whom she developed a personal friendship and even the unpredictable President Trump. It was helpful that his mother had been Scottish and was a staunch monarchist. Foreign guests can, however, be difficult. The Queen was overheard commiserating with a police officer about the ‘very rude’ behaviour of Chinese diplomats during the state visit of President Xi. She detested the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, reportedly hiding behind a bush in the Palace gardens to avoid them. She was enraged by the behaviour of President Mobutu of Zaire and his wife who had illegally smuggled their dog past customs. One of the stranger moments must have been the need to prop up the wife of President Kekkonen of Finland in a carriage, she had accidentally taken a sleeping pill instead of her medication! The Queen’s nurturing of the Commonwealth led to King Charles being unanimously appointed as her successor. A revolving headship could mean a dictatorship being at the organization’s head which would be intolerable. The Secretary General is a bureaucrat who obviously lacks the cachet of the monarch, so William should succeed his father. The British monarchy has a unique profile internationally. The world, both in Europe and potentially in the East, is a dangerous place. Royal visits are an important way of cementing friendships and helping to form new alliances.