King Charles’s France visit postponed after pensions protests

King Charles has been forced to postpone a state visit to France due to ongoing protests over President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial pension reforms.

The royal visit, which was to be Charles’s “first abroad after becoming king”, said the Independent, will be rescheduled, Buckingham Palace confirmed.

King Charles and the Queen Consort, Camilla, will now travel to Germany on Wednesday in what was scheduled to be the second leg of the overseas trip. The cancellation and indefinite delay to his visit to France puts “a dampener on the new monarch’s debut on the international stage”, said AP.

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Tensions have escalated in France over Macron’s controversial plans to raise the pension age, which have sparked nationwide protests and strikes.

The Guardian reported that “more than 450 protesters” were arrested on Thursday as about “300 demonstrations drew more than a million people nationwide” to protest against unpopular pension changes that would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

French union bosses said that more than 3 million people took to the streets to demonstrate the “fiercely contested law”, which was “pushed through parliament without a vote last week”, added the paper.

Unions called for further protests next Tuesday, which would have coincided with the King’s visit to the country. The royal couple were due in Paris on Sunday for events planned months in advance.

The King and Queen Consort were scheduled to visit Bordeaux, “where fire engulfed the front door of the town hall” on Thursday after a day of mostly peaceful protests and occasional clashes with the police, said the BBC. It is not known who was responsible for the fire, which was quickly extinguished by firefighters.

The Elysée Palace confirmed the postponement on Friday morning, while Downing Street later confirmed that Macron had asked the UK government to postpone the trip.

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “Their Majesties greatly look forward to the opportunity to visit France as soon as dates can be found.”