Photos by Ian Longthorne
02:49PM, Tuesday 08 July 2025
President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte, France’s First Lady, were given a royal welcome in Windsor on the first day of a state visit to the UK.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla greeted the French couple at the foot of Windsor Castle before setting off in a carriage procession as crowds cheered and waved them on.
British Union and French Tricolour flags fluttered in the sun as the procession, also including royals, the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate, made their way towards the castle.
The Household Cavalry join the state visit procession.
The Macrons' three-day state visit is the first to be hosted at Windsor Castle since 2014, and the first French visit since then-President Nicholas Sarkozy’s visit in 2008.
It will be seen as a show of the strength of friendship between France and the UK.
A spectacular display of military pageantry kicked off the ceremony in Windsor, as the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment paraded through the town just before midday.
Accompanying them was the regiment’s marching band, which performed a guard of honour at the Royal Dias podium beside Windsor and Eton Riverside Railway Station.
King Charles and Queen Camilla stepped out of a Rolls-Royce onto the podium and were greeted by Windsor MP Jack Rankin and Royal Borough Mayor Mandy Brar.
President Macron and Brigitte joined them moments later alongside Prince William and Princess Kate.
Artillery at Home Park fired a 41-gun royal salute to mark the ceremony.
The royals and their French counterparts watched over the Household Cavalry and posed for photographs from the onlooking international press before stepping into royal carriages.
The carriage procession leaves for Windsor Castle. pic.twitter.com/vpZQBCgYzf
— Sam Leech (@SamLeech_BM) July 8, 2025
The procession of four carriages then travelled up along the winding road to Windsor Castle.
Macron and the King were in the first carriage, Queen Camilla and Brigitte in the second, with Prince William and Princess Kate in the third.
Troops from the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, British Army and Royal Air Force, as well as the Household Cavalry, joined them in the procession.
Major Charles Onslow, of the Household Cavalry, said: “Escorting his Majesty the King on a state visit is a very special privilege.
“All the soldiers of the regiment have worked tremendously hard to ensure that the occasion was memorable and went according to plan.”
The state visit is a show of the strength of friendship between France and the UK.
At the castle, President Macron and the First Lady were given a guard of honour by soldiers from the Grenadier Guards and Scots Guards – two of the oldest regiments in the British Army.
Cheering crowds lined up along a Thames Street adorned with flags, braved the hot sun to watch the royal procession towards Windsor Castle.
Among them were tourists from across the world, including Rocky Ricigliano, 11, and her mum Whitnee, 45, from Atlanta, Georgia. They told the Express the day had been ‘pretty special’.
The Macrons’ visit today begins a whirlwind three-day itinerary centred around their base at Windsor Castle.
Later today, President Macron will visit Westminster Abbey to lay a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior.
The Macrons will return to Windsor for a state banquet later this evening.
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