The VIP guest list for tonight’s state banquet in Versailles includes Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and French billionaire Bernard Arnault, the world’s richest man.
Organizers have invited a variety of celebrities to dine and drink with King Charles and Queen Camilla in the luxurious Hall of Mirrors, a space designed to reflect the omnipotence of the Sun King, Louis XIV.
Rock royalty Jagger, 80, will travel from his own stately home, Château de Fourchette (Fork House) in the Indre-et-Loire department, to spend the night.
Arnault, 74, owns luxury mansions in Paris and Bordeaux and is the head of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, which includes brands such as Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior.
Rich lists regularly rank him at No. 1, and Forbes estimates his fortune at £178 billion. In 2012, the late Queen Elizabeth II appointed him a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire “for his services to business”.
On their first visit to the country as King and Queen, Charles, 76, and Camilla, 74, will undertake 21 high-profile engagements.
Rock royalty Jagger, 80, will travel tonight from his own stately home in the Indre-et-Loire department.
Bernard Arnault, 74, is the head of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH and owns several houses around the world.
Franco-British actors on the list of 150 guests include Charlotte Gainsbourg, 52, and Emma Mackey, 27, from the Netflix series ‘Sex Education’.
Actor Hugh Grant, 63, who owns a house in France, will also be present. The 90s heartthrob had previously joked that he is only truly happy when he is in France.
Among the sports personalities invited are former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, 73, and midfielder Patrick Vieira, 47, along with former Chelsea and Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba, 45.
Glamorous guests can expect the best of French cuisine, with Michelin-starred chefs Yannick Alléno, Anne-Sophie Pic and Pierre Hermé overseeing the menu, which had to receive the royal seal of approval.
Chefs have been banned from serving foie gras, a French specialty that Charles has avoided on animal welfare grounds, and the King is said to have provided a strict list of culinary demands for the food.
However, plenty of mushrooms will be served to the king and queen, which are a favorite because “they remind them of the late Queen Elizabeth II,” a French government source said.
Actor Hugh Grant, 63, who owns a home in France, will also attend the banquet.
President Emmanuel Macron is expected to host a lavish state banquet in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles to mark the arrival of the King and Queen.
The dinner will serve as a welcome to the British monarch as he begins his three-day state visit to France today.
The long-awaited trip was postponed amid widespread unrest in April, which gripped the French capital and cities across France.
On their first visit to the country as kings, Charles, 76, and Camilla, 74, divide their time between Paris and Bordeaux.
In addition to tonight’s star-studded dinner, Charles and Camilla have 21 high-profile engagements to look forward to in just three days.
The most important point of Charles’s itinerary is probably his will address the French Senate, the first by a British royal in which he will speak in both English and French.
