Prince William will join Donald Trump and other world leaders at the reopening ceremony of Notre Dame Cathedral, five years after it was destroyed by a devastating fire.
The Prince of Wales, 42, is heading to Paris for the opening ceremony of the 800-year-old building, which was rebuilt after it was destroyed by a massive fire in April 2019.
Millions of people watched live as the wooden spire and roof were engulfed by the inferno, which was probably started by a cigarette or a short circuit in the electrical system.
It has taken more than five years to rebuild the iconic landmark in the French capital after £582,000,000 was donated to the restoration project.
Prince William accepted an invitation from French president Emmanuel Macron to attend the grand reopening of Notre Dame on Saturday – with newly-elected US President Donald Trump among the VIPs who will attend the royal service.
The spectacle will be led by Laurent Ulrich, the Catholic Archbishop of Paris, and more than 1,500 guests are expected to gather in the newly renovated cathedral for the service.
The ceremony begins with Archbishop Ulrich banging on the great doors of Notre Dame with his staff, a staff made by the designer Sylvain Dubuisson with pieces of wood from the cathedral’s roof, which collapsed in the fire.
After the opening rituals, Ulrich will address the great organ, which has not been heard in public since the fire destroyed its 8,000 pipes five years ago.
Prince William (right) accepted an invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron (left) to attend the grand reopening of Notre Dame on Saturday. Brigitte Macron, wife of the French president, is pictured at a D-Day event in Normandy on June 6, 2024
Millions watched in horror as an inferno destroyed Notre Dame, with live footage of the catastrophe broadcast worldwide
Pictured is the restored interior of the characteristic Gothic cathedral in the French capital
William will represent his father, King Charles, at the reopening – with the historic world event underscoring the prince’s growing role as a statesman.
However, it is believed the Prince of Wales will not attend the second part of the grand reopening on Sunday, which will include an inaugural Mass at which the high altar will be consecrated.
The heir apparent’s upcoming trip to Paris this weekend comes after King Charles made a state visit to France last year.
This week the King revealed he was ‘delighted’ to see Notre Dame restored to its former glory.
In the meantime. during a rare joint appointment at the residence of the French ambassador to promote her literary prize, Queen Camilla received a book about the cathedral from Brigitte Macron, wife of President Macron.
The Catholic faithful are so eager to worship at Notre Dame again that tickets for the first week of Mass were snapped up within 25 minutes, the cathedral’s rector said.
On the evening of April 15, 2019, millions of people around the world watched in horror as live footage was broadcast of orange flames tearing through the roof of the cathedral before the 19th-century spire collapsed to the ground.
About 600 firefighters battled the inferno for fifteen hours. Miraculously, no one was killed or injured during the catastrophe.
Donald Trump will also attend the reopening of Notre Dame after being invited to the ceremony by President Macron (both pictured in April 2018)
Pictured is a before and after image showing from how severe the damage to the inside of the cathedral was after the fire, to what it looks like now after the restoration
It took more than five years to restore the 800-year-old building to its former glory
It took approximately 2,000 stonemasons, carpenters, roofers, foundry workers, art experts, sculptors and engineers to restore the Gothic building, which was originally completed in 1345.
In a speech last month to the craftsmen and women working on the renovation, Macron said: “The fire at Notre Dame was a national wound, and you have been its remedy through will, through work, through dedication.
“You’ve done your alchemy here on this site to turn charred coals into art.”
“I am so deeply grateful, France is so deeply grateful… that you brought back Notre Dame.”
Before the fire, efforts to finance the renovation of the nearly 900-year-old cathedral were experiencing difficulties. But that changed after the fire.
“We received an outpouring of support,” said Michel Picaud, a member of the fundraising committee. ‘I was getting 400 donations an hour, which completely crashed my smartphone.’
Millions watched in horror as an inferno destroyed Notre Dame, with live footage of the catastrophe broadcast worldwide
A total of 340,000 people from more than 150 countries have donated 846 million euros, says the government agency responsible for the restoration of Notre Dame. The support testifies to the global affection for the monument, which transcends borders and religions.
“It’s something that belongs to everyone,” Mr. Picaud said. The non-profit organization he heads, Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris, has raised £44 million from 50,000 international donors, most of them American.
“It’s not just a Parisian cathedral or monument,” he said. “People all over the world, I think, feel like this is part of their, I would say, heritage.”
The reopening will feature billionaire donors from France and beyond working with other guests.
Among them will be “the poorest among Parisians, all those who are helped by charity organizations and several hundred in the cathedral,” said the Rev. Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, rector of Notre Dame.
Although construction continues outside, the restored interiors look better than they have for generations.
The limestone walls have been stripped of years of accumulated dirt. Vaulted ceilings that have collapsed have been repaired. The Archbishop and other members have new clothes, from a designer who has also dressed Beyonce, Rihanna and other stars. The cathedral also has new furnishings, including a new altar to replace the one that was crushed when the flaming spire collapsed.
The rector says: ‘No one alive has seen the cathedral’ as it looks today.
“The blondness of the stone, the brilliance of the paintings, the light through the stained glass windows, all the works of art, all the paintings that have been cleaned, the statues that have been restored,” he said.
“None of that existed before the fire.”