(Paris) France rolls out the red carpet for the state visit of King Charles III to one of its most magnificent and emblematic monuments: the Palace of Versailles, which is celebrating its 400e birthday.
Charles and Queen Camilla’s three-day trip to Paris and Bordeaux, which begins Wednesday, includes a grand dinner at Versailles attended by more than 150 guests in the Hall of Mirrors.
The palace recently opened a gallery tracing its history, from its establishment as a modest hunting lodge in 1623, to key diplomatic events of the last century, including visits by Charles’ predecessors.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Wednesday’s dinner echoed Queen Elizabeth II’s state visit in 1972, when she was welcomed to the palace by President Georges Pompidou. King Charles liked the idea of following in his mother’s footsteps, according to Mr Macron’s office.
Elizabeth II also visited the palace in 1958 and ten years earlier, four years before her coronation in 1952.
Catherine Pgard, president of the Palace of Versailles, praised the “endless history” of the castle which “includes visits by French children who come to Versailles with their classes, as well as those of His Majesty the King of England or tourists who come to Versailles and who know the history less well.”
“And we have a story to tell each of them,” she told The Associated Press.
Usually filled with a chaotic crowd of tourists from around the world taking photos, the Hall of Mirrors will be closed to visitors on Wednesday to prepare for the royal banquet.
On the menu: blue lobster and crab, followed by Bresse poultry and a cep gratin prepared respectively by French chefs Anne-Sophie Pic and Yannick Alléno, both awarded three Michelin stars. The cheese course will include French Comté and British Stichelton blue cheese. For dessert, world-renowned pastry chef Pierre Hermé will prepare his rose macaroon biscuit, made with cream with rose petals, raspberries and lychees.
Charles’ visit will mark another date in the long history of the Palace, from King Louis XIII to the French Revolution and modern times which are presented on the ground floor in the Gallery of the History of the Recently inaugurated palace.
The gallery has 11 rooms, each thematic and largely chronological, showcasing more than 120 works aimed at providing visitors from around the world with an immediate understanding of the palace’s complex history.
It brings together recently acquired works, paintings and works of art that have long remained unnoticed because they have been preserved, as well as others today, repositioned and better highlighted.
Laurent Salomé, director of the National Museum of the Palaces of Versailles and Trianon, said the exhibition presents several masterpieces.
“Our intention was to create a first great moment of pleasure for visitors. Firstly because they have come a long way. They have dreamed of Versailles for a long time. We didn’t want to give them a boring lesson to start their visit,” he explained.
Some works come from the original version of the palace and its gardens under its great builder Louis XIV, who decided to enlarge his father’s hunting lodge.
It is “a story made not only by a monarch, but also by an enormous team of artists – and the greatest artists. The good thing about absolute monarchy is being able to bring together all the best in the same place,” underlined Mr. Salomé.
Today, the castle has 2,300 rooms spread over 63,154 square meters.
