The significance: French President Emmanuel Macron is the first European leader to attend a state visit to the UK since Charles III was crowned, and since the UK left the EU. The visit involves ceremony, as well as politics, with the UK prime minister expected to meet Macron.

King Charles III highlighted the crucial bonds between the United Kingdom and France in the face of a “multitude of more complex threats,” as he welcomed President Emmanuel Macron for the first state visit by a European leader to his country since Brexit.