After massive pension protests, King Charles' France visit postponed

King Charles' first state visit to France next week has been cancelled over social unrest after President Emmanuel Macron introduced a new pension law, which resulted in a series of protests across the nation.

The delay, which Macron requested, will cause the French leader great humiliation because he had anticipated that the monarch's visit would signal a symbolic turning point in the two nations' efforts to mend fences following years of strained relations over Britain's exit from the European Union.

Charles was supposed to travel to France on Sunday for three days. This would have marked his first state visit since he succeeded his mother, Queen Elizabeth as British monarch in September before his visit to Germany.

Macron said at a press conference during a visit to Brussels."You can see the situation linked to the protests." 

He added that "it would not have been serious" to host the state visit after unions announced a nationwide day of strikes and protests for Tuesday. "Common sense and friendship pushed us to propose to postpone the visit,” he said.

After Macron asked the British government to postpone the visit, a British government spokesperson said the decision was "taken with the consent of all parties." 

The sudden cancellation of the trip will increase pressure on Macron to find a solution to the problem surrounding his proposals to raise the retirement age by two years to 64, which has caused some of the worst riots in France since the "Yellow Vest" uprising of 2018–2019.

"There were calls on social networks to disrupt the king's visit, to take action, so we didn't want to take any risks," said a French source to Reuters.

Reuters reported that Charles' visit to Germany will go ahead as planned.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said that the king and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, are eager to reschedule their trip to France "as soon as dates can be found."

(With Reuters Inputs)

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