"Given the announcement, yesterday, of a new national day of action against the pension reform on Tuesday 28 March in France, the visit of King Charles III, initially scheduled for 26 to 29 March in our country, will be postponed. This decision was taken by the French and British Governments, after a telephone conversation between the President of the Republic and the King this morning, in order to welcome His Majesty King Charles III in conditions that correspond to our friendly relationship. This state visit will be rescheduled as soon as possible." This is the statement released by the Presidency of the Republic French shortly before noon today.

Certainly a decision that Macron did not take willingly: the president was betting on the visit of the monarch to open a new page in relations with London after years of disagreements caused by Brexit. King Charles was due to travel to France for three days and then head to Germany on Thursday.