Details of King Charles and Camilla's France visit released

The Buckingham Palace on Thursday issued a statement regarding the king's upcoming visit to France.

"The King and Queen will undertake a State Visit to France, visiting Paris and Bordeaux, from Wednesday 20th to Friday 22nd September 2023," said the statement.

According to the statement, "The visit will celebrate the shared history, culture and values of the United Kingdom and France.

It said, the State Visit will mark the King's 35th official visit to France, and Queen Camilla's 9th official visit.

The palace said that further details on the state visit programme will be confirmed in due course.

Charles had planned a three-day visit to France in late March in what would have been his first state visit since succeeding his late mother, Queen Elizabeth.

But the visit was cancelled amid social unrest over President Emmanuel Macron's new pension law.

With the visit now back on the agenda, on Sept. 20-21 Charles and Camilla will meet with President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte in Paris, and they will then travel to the southwestern France city of Bordeaux on Sept. 22.

A source said the programme will be broadly similar to the one that was planned in March.

Macron and Charles - who speaks French - had already met in person before Charles became king, and have also talked over the phone. The Elysee said Charles' visit to Paris will be an opportunity for the two to talk about the protection of the environment.