King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima Start Their State Visit to France

Arrived yesterday evening in Paris, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima began a two-day state visit to France today.

In the morning took place a welcoming ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe. The King and Queen paid their respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the King laid a wreath. A minute of silence was held and were played the national anthems. The Royal Couple signed the Livre d’Or.

Later, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima were received by French President François Hollande at the Elysee Palace, his official residence. After an audience and the exchange of the gifts, the Royal Couple along with President Hollande, visited the Louvre Museum.

President @fhollande ontvangt Koning Willem-Alexander en Koningin Máxima op het @Elysee #NLvisitetatFR pic.twitter.com/UsITndJPXW

— Koninklijk Huis (@koninklijkhuis) March 10, 2016

At the Museum they attended the unveiling of two Rembrandt portraits, “Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit”, wedding portraits that were jointly purchased by the Louvre and the Dutch Rijksmuseum.

Later in the afternoon, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima had meetings with Gérard Larcher, the President of the Senate, at the Palais du Petit Luxembourg and Claude Bortolone, President of the National Assembly. Afterwards the Royal Couple met the Dutch community at the Hotel Potocki.

In the Halle Pajol, a meeting place for young people, the King and the Queen were reunited with fifteen young French student who participated in educational projects of the Anne Frank Foundation. The former French professional football player Lilian Thuram was present as founder of the Foundation Thuram which is focused to combating discrimination through education programs. The main topics of the meeting were tolerance, freedom and equality.

In the evening President Hollande hosted a State Dinner at the Elysee Palace.

Filed under The Netherlands
Tagged France, King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands, President Hollande of France, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, State Visit.