Century of friendship

last updated 8 January 2015

Paris

France and Britain this week celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale, a treaty ending their colonial rivalries. The entente marked the end to centuries of bloody battles between the two European powers. On a state visit to Paris, Queen Elizabeth appealed for unity between the two peoples. “We cannot allow the political tensions of the moment, no matter what resentments they raise on either side, to divide us in the long term,” the queen said in her fluent French. That goal may be difficult to achieve: A poll released this week shows that most French people think Britons are anti-European, while most Britons think the French are arrogant.