They are unanimous. The day after Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96 on Thursday, various French political leaders paid tribute to her. Starting with Emmanuel Macron. In a message published on his social networks, the Head of State greets “a friend of France who has marked her country and her century forever.”
“The queen of the sixteen kingdoms loved France, which gave her back well,” the president reacted in a press release.
“The French people are also in mourning,” he added, specifying that “His Majesty the King” Charles III directs “the royal family, His Majesty’s government and the British people the testimony of their centuries-old friendship. and the sadness of it.”
“His smile, full of kindness and joy”
François Hollande, for his part, congratulated an “exceptional personality. Both for what he represented for the British people, for his image in the world and for the role he played in history.”
“I remember the warm welcome he received when he came to France in 2014 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the landing, one of those reserved for people who have entered the hearts of French men and women forever”, he pointed out.
Her predecessor at the Elysee, Nicolas Sarkozy, praises an “exceptional sovereign” who “devoted her life to her country and the British people.” Her former head of state will remember “her smile, full of kindness and joviality” as well as her “humor of hers so delightfully British”.
“Carla and I will never forget the welcome he gave us in Windsor with Prince Philip during the 2008 state visit,” Nicolas Sarkozy also writes.
“Model Courage”
Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne evokes “the testimony of a century of hope and trials”.
“It has been and will continue to be a model of courage and a benchmark for several generations,” insists the head of government.
Like her, many executives from the majority have honored the queen. Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of the National Assembly, boasts of being an “exceptional woman”. “Her sense of duty to her and her honor, her righteousness and her resilience deserved everyone’s respect,” says Aurore Bergé, patron saint of the Palais Bourbon walkers.
On the left, a certain distance from the monarchy
On the left, two bells ringing. First, classic tributes like the one by Olivier Faure. The First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) addresses his “thoughts to the royal family and to all Britons”. Who “will remember a queen who marked her history and was, throughout her reign, the symbol of her unity.” In this wake, Mathilde Panot, leader of the French Insubordinate (LFI) in the National Assembly, pays tribute to “a capital figure of a century of history.”
“My fraternal condolences as the British and Commonwealth people mourn,” says Julien Bayou, MEP for Paris and National Secretary for Europe Ecology of the Greens (EELV).
Other personalities of the New Popular Ecological and Social Union (Nupes), when greeting the queen, distance themselves from the British political system. “We will not say ‘long live the queen’ but we feel sincere sadness,” says Fabien Roussel, national secretary of the French Communist Party (PCF). Sandrine Rousseau, green deputy for Paris, highlights a “female figure” and adds that, “without being a monarchist, [elle est] respectful of the talent and political sense” of Elizabeth II.
“The monarchy is profoundly alien to the French republican idea, but let us praise its remarkable sense of duty and its patriotic love,” adds Raquel Garrido, a rebel deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis.
“Memory of a Touching Story”
On the far right, Marine Le Pen highlighted “one of the most emblematic and beloved figures in the history of her country and her continent.”
According to Jordán Bardella, interim president of the National Association (RN), Isabel II “was the memory of a moving story.”
“She witnessed a complex, tragic and tormented 20th century,” said the MEP.
Éric Zemmour, president of Reconquête, underlined “his concern for the long term, his patriotism, his respect for traditions and British identity”.
“Our country that she knew so well”
On the right we are unanimous. Annie Genevard, interim president of the Les Républicains (LR) party, shares her “sincere and deep emotion beyond the British people and the nations attached to the British crown.”
The Doubs member recalls the Queen’s francophilia, evoking “our country that she knew so well, whose language she spoke and which owes so much to the solidarity of the United Kingdom during the Second World War”.
Laurent Wauquiez, president of LR of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, will preserve from Elizabeth II “an incomparable dedication and wisdom”.
“She was the soul of a nation and part of our history,” he adds.
Éric Ciotti, LR deputy for the Alpes-Maritimes, greets a woman who “loved France and advocated the appeasement of relations between our two sister nations”.
Source: BFM TV
