Tuesday 2 June 2015

Red, white and blue for a queen in Paris

It is her third visit to Paris in less than a year so Queen Letizia of Spain has got used to the tricolore. And today she paid her own royal homage to it by picking a hattrick of outfits for the firs day of her State Visit to France by wearing red, white and blue. Just not in that order.


No wonder she looks happy, the look is a winner - Letizia of Spain on day one of a State Visit to France

The Spanish queen arrived in the French capital on her husband's arm and in a cream suit which looked very much like her mother-in-law might have picked it too and which refused to behave in the gusty conditions that swirled around the royal couple at the Arc de Triomphe where the visit began. After an official welcome from the President, Francois Hollande, King Felipe joined his host to inspect troops before both men placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  And then the royal visitors made their way to the Elysee Palace for lunch and an audience with their host.



President Hollande was accompanied through most of the morning by the Minister for Energy and Sustainable Development, Segolene Royal, his former partner who chose blue for her outfit in a precursor of what the queen would pick for the next stop on the tour.

 

The afternoon involved a stop at a major exhibition of works by Velazquez and for that outing Letizia opted for a blue shirt with blue print skirt first seen last month when the King and Queen of Spain played host to the President of Italy. Today it was set against a warm Paris in June.

 
 


With two of the three colours of her host's flag taken care of, it wasn't that much of a surprise that Letizia opted for red for the evening. The cocktail dress, worn with 1920s style hair and statement earrings, was eye catching and ticked the red box in a very striking way.

 
 

 The Spanish royals began a State Visit to France in March but by the time their plane landed that time news was coming through of the Germanwings crash in which 150 people died. The royal visit was cancelled immediately and now, almost three months later, the king and queen returned. And they made sure they honoured those who had helped in the rescue effort in a reception on the first evening of their stay.


The King and Queen of Spain and the President of France recognise the efforts of those who helped in the aftermath of the crash of the Germanwings flight in March 2015

After that, there was a dinner at the Elysee Palace in honour of the royal visitors with King Felipe speaking of the many links between and the shared history of France and Spain and of how the two countries needed one another. He also placed great emphasis on how the paths of the two countries now converged in the European Union.


King Felipe during his speech at the dinner in Paris tonight

And with that, day one came to an end with two more chapters of this State Visit still to be written. But the main theme of the opening part was red, white and blue for a queen in Paris.

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