Protests over French President Emmanuel Macron's contentious pension reforms have forced the postponement of King Charles' official visit to the country.
Both the Élysée Palace in France and Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom issued statements on Friday morning confirming the trip had been canceled.
King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla were expected to visit France from Sunday to Wednesday, including Paris and Bordeaux in the southwest. As protests grew violent in certain regions, notably Bordeaux on Thursday, a decision to postpone the Royal visit was made, according to CNN.
The British King was scheduled to visit France before heading to Germany. According to a statement of the Elysee, King Charles France's visit "will be rescheduled as soon as possible."
According to a representative of the British government, the decision was reached "with the consent of all parties" after French President Emmanuel Macron requested that the visit be delayed, per NBC News.
The postponement of King Charles France visit would cause Macron great humiliation since he had anticipated the monarch's trip would be a turning point in the two nations' attempts to mend their strained ties following Brexit.
French Protests Intensifies
The French protests violence escalated as Macron's administration rammed through parliament unopposed a bill to increase the retirement age by two to 64.
At least two fast food businesses, a supermarket, and a bank were assaulted by gangs of people dressed in black and wearing masks in Paris. Street fights between police and these individuals diverted attention from the tens of thousands of peaceful demonstrators, according to ABC.
Officers, who were being attacked with Molotov cocktails, other items, and pyrotechnics, charged many times and fired tear gas to clear away the demonstrators in the French protests.
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