NEED TO KNOW
- Kate Middleton and Prince William are helping host French President and Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte on July 8
- In a departure from state visits held at Buckingham Palace, it will be held at Windsor and feature a carriage procession through the town
- A glittering state banquet will be held in the castle later that day
Kate Middleton is set to play a major role in the state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to the U.K.
The Princess of Wales and Prince William are scheduled to take part in a carriage ride featuring Macron and his wife Brigitte through the streets of Windsor on Tuesday, July 8, Buckingham Palace has announced.
The royal couple will meet the French visitors as they arrive in the U.K. at an airbase to the northwest of London and then travel with them back to Windsor, where they will be greeted by King Charles and Queen Camilla.
A Royal Salute will then be fired in Home Park, Windsor, and — almost 30 miles away — at the Tower of London.
Kate and William, both 43, will then join the carriage procession led by Charles, 76, and Camilla, 77, and the visiting French couple through the streets to historic Windsor Castle.
The royals are not using Buckingham Palace for the state visit due to its ongoing refurbishment, but the pomp and ceremony will match anything laid on in London. The visit also provides a chance for the family to show off an iconic, historic setting and host a glittering state banquet later in a different setting.
When the royals and their guests arrive in the quadrangle of the 1,000-year-old castle, they will receive a royal salute from the guard of honor, and the regimental band will play the French and British national anthems.
Charles and Macron will then inspect the guard before rejoining Camilla and Brigitte, and the Prince and Princess of Wales, to view the military march past.
Charles and Camilla will later take the Macrons inside Windsor Castle for lunch in the state dining room, alongside other members of the royal family.
Following a traditional viewing of items from the Royal Collection with a French connection, the Macrons will head to Westminster Abbey to pay their respects at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior.
All eyes will be on the state banquet that evening, however, when Charles will lead other members of the royal family in hosting the couple and a wide variety of British and French guests. Buckingham Palace has not said who will join, but William and Kate are usually expected, and Queen Camilla will join too.
At the most recent U.K. state visit, by the Amir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and his wife, Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al Thani in December, Kate was missing from the last banquet as she continued her recovery from her cancer treatment.
She did take part in some early elements of the visit by helping to welcome the couple to the U.K. on their first day. Kate also joined the Qatari royals at a parade in Horse Guards, London.
Earlier this week, Kate she spoke candidly about her cancer journey during a visit to a hospital wellbeing garden, and highlighted that it was like being on a rollercoaster even after treatment had ended.
“You put on a sort of brave face, stoicism through treatment,” she said. “Treatment’s done, then it’s like, ‘I can crack on, get back to normal,’ but actually, the phase afterwards is really, really difficult.”
“You’re not necessarily under the clinical team any longer, but you’re not able to function normally at home as you perhaps once used to,” the Princess of Wales continued. “And actually, someone to help talk you through that, show you and guide you through that sort of phase that comes after treatment, I think is really valuable.”
The President and Mrs. Macron will stay at Windsor Castle during their visit. On Wednesday, July 9, they will make a poignant and private visit to St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, to lay flowers on the Tomb of Queen Elizabeth.
King Charles will then show President Macron some of the nature restoration that has been undertaken in the castle gardens and show him examples of biodiversity there and the wider Windsor Great Park.
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Prince William spent some time with the French president when he represented his father and visited Paris for the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in December.
The President and Mrs. Macron leave the U.K. on Thursday, July 10. The initial announcement of the state visit was made by Buckingham Palace on May 13, when they said, “The President of the French Republic, His Excellency Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by Mrs Brigitte Macron, has accepted an invitation from His Majesty The King to pay a State Visit to the United Kingdom from Tuesday 8th July to Thursday 10th July 2025.
“The President and Mrs Macron will stay at Windsor Castle.”
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