Inside Macron’s state visit – Princess Kate’s key role to glitzy banquet at new spot

French President Emmanuel Macron is coming to the UK on Tuesday and the Express takes a look at all the key details surrounding his high-profile visit.

The Royal Family are bracing for the first state visit of the year in the UK this week, which will see France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, and his wife, Brigitte, attend a number of events in the space of three days. Mr Macron’s visit will include a glittering state banquet, which will be held at a different location this year for the first time. It will also see the Prince and Princess of Wales have a prominent role in welcoming their French guests.

State Visits usually capitalise on the Royal Family’s soft power to strengthen diplomatic ties overseas, and arrangements for the latest one are likely to be echoed when U.S. President Donald Trump makes his highly anticipated state visit in September. The King and Queen paid a state visit to France in September 2023, while the last state visit to the UK from France was in March 2008, when the now-disgraced president Nicolas Sarkozy, since convicted of corruption and influence peddling, and his wife Carla Bruni, were the guests of Queen Elizabeth.

Here, the Express takes a look at all the key details forming the French president’s three-day trip to the UK.

Day One: Greeting by Prince William and Princess Kate, formal welcome by King and Queen, state banquet at Windsor Castle

Mr Macron’s state visit to the UK, from July 8-10, is the first to be hosted at Windsor Castle, rather than Buckingham Palace, in a more than a decade since that of the Irish president Michael D Higgins in 2014.

This will be the same case for state visits in the next few years as refurbishing work continues at the London royal residence and starts to affect the state rooms.

On Tuesday morning, the Prince and Princess of Wales will greet the French president and his wife on behalf of the King at RAF Northolt and will travel with them to Windsor.

There, the King and Queen will formally welcome their French guests on a Royal Dais constructed on Datchet Road in Windsor town centre, with the castle in the backdrop as gun salutes sound in nearby Home Park.

The royals and Mr and Mrs Macron will then take a carriage procession through the Berkshire town and along part of the Long Walk, which leads to the castle.

A ceremonial welcome will be staged in the castle’s quadrangle with Camilla, William, Kate and Mrs Macron watching as the King and Mr Macron inspect the Guard of Honour.

The regimental band will also play the French and British national anthems before the party move inside the castle.

A lunch will be hosted in the State Dining Room, after which the president and his wife, the King and Queen and members of the Royal Family will view a special exhibition of items relating to France from the Royal Collection in the Green Drawing Room.

In the afternoon, Mr and Mrs Macron will travel to London to see the Grave of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey, visit the Palace of Westminster where the French leader will address parliamentarians in the Royal Gallery, and meet opposition leaders at Lancaster House. These will include the leader of the opposition, Kemi Badenoch, and the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey.

In the evening, the King and Queen, joined by other members of the Royal Family, will host a glittering banquet at Windsor Castle’s St George’s Hall for their French guests.

The King and French president will both deliver speeches at the banquet.

Kensington Palace has yet to confirm whether or not Princess Kate will attend the banquet. The princess, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2024 and confirmed she was free from the disease at the start of this year, last made an appearance at a grand royal dinner 20 months ago, in November 2023, in honour of the South Korean president.

Day Two: Queen Elizabeth’s tomb, tour of Windsor Castle Garden, meeting with Sir Keir Starmer and Guildhall banquet

On Wednesday, Mr Macron will mainly meet with UK politicians, with the French president being given a tour of the Windsor Castle Gardens by the King beforehand.

Charles, Ranger of Windsor Great Park, will show Mr Macron areas of work on nature restoration and biodiversity within the Gardens and the wider Great Park.

The pair will then join the Queen and the First Lady of France to view a Charabanc carriage from the Royal Mews, which was gifted to Queen Victoria by King Louis-Philippe of France in 1844.

In a personal touch, the King and Queen will also take the Macrons to see Fabuleu de Maucour, a 10-year-old grey gelding which Mr Macron gifted to the late Queen Elizabeth in 2022 in celebration of her Platinum Jubilee.

The Macrons will also privately pay their respects at the late Queen’s tomb in St George’s Chapel by laying flowers in tribute.

The King and Queen will formally welcome Mr and Mrs Macron at Windsor Castle (Image: Getty)

In London, the French president will visit an AI and Emerging Technology Innovators Exhibition at Imperial College, where he will meet academics and researchers.

He will then join Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Lady Starmer for lunch at Downing Street, ahead of a UK-France summit at Number 10 on Thursday.

In the evening, the Marcons, joined by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, will attend a banquet at Guildhall, given by the Lord Mayor and City of London Corporation.

The Lord Mayor and the President will both make speeches following the dinner.

The King and Queen paid a state visit to France in September 2023 (Image: Getty)

Day Three: UK-France Summit in London, departure

Thursday, the final day of the state visit, will see Mr Macron join the Prime Minister at No.10 Downing Street for a UK-France Summit, where they will meet UK and French delegations and join the plenary session.

The two leaders said they hope to make “good progress” on issues including migration and defence when they meet next week, according to Number 10.

There have been extensive talks between the two nations on migration, and the summit comes as the UK has been repeatedly pushing the French authorities to do more to prevent small boats from crossing the Channel.

Mr and Mrs Macron will then depart from the United Kingdom on Thursday afternoon.