05/04/2004

Queen in Paris to mark Entente Cordiale centenary

The Queen is in France today on a three-day visit to mark the centenary of the signing of the Entente Cordiale – a pact designed to resolve long-standing disputes between the two nations.

The Queen and Prince Philip were greeted by the French President Jacques Chirac at a ceremony on the Champs-Elysée in Paris.

The Queen and Prince Philip, accompanied by Mr Chirac, will move on to the Arc de Triomphe for a wreath-laying ceremony at the tomb of the unknown soldier. Tonight, the president will host a dinner for the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at the Elysée Palace.

This is the Queen's fourth State visit to France and opens celebrations of the Centenary of the Entente Cordiale, signed by Britain and France on 8 April 1904. The Queen previous visits took place in 1957, 1972 and 1992.

Tomorrow, Prime Minister Jean Pierre Raffarin will give a luncheon for the royal couple at his official residence, Hôtel de Matignon. The British Ambassador will also host a dinner at his residence for which the theme will be the fight against cancer, one of the major focuses of the Entente Cordiale celebrations.

The programme of the State visit also includes a reception at the French Senate hosted by the President of the Senate and the President of the National Assembly, and a meeting with the Mayor of Paris. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will also attend a performance of the Saumur Cadre Noir, and visit the future British Art Room at the Musée du Louvre.

On the last day of the visit on Wednesday, the monarch will go to Toulouse, and they will meet French and British Entente Cordiale scholarship holders and their sponsors.

The Entente Cordiale was a colonial-era agreement signed by the Foreign Secretary, Lord Lansdowne, and the French Ambassador, Paul Cambon, in London on 8 April 1904.

It settled settling long-standing disputes between the UK and France over Morocco, Egypt, Siam, Madagascar, the New Hebrides, West and Central Africa and Newfoundland.

It also represented a shift from centuries old enmity to a sustained era of rapprochement and alliance.

(gmcg)

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