PARIS: British royals William and Kate arrived in Paris on Friday in the prince’s first official visit to the French capital since his mother Diana died there.
William, who is second-in-line to the throne, and his wife are acting as goodwill ambassadors for Britain just as the country prepares to trigger the formal process of leaving the European Union.
At a reception for young French entrepreneurs to launch a celebration of Franco-British links called “Les Voisins” (Neighbours), the 34-year-old prince said the two countries had much in common.
“This partnership will continue despite Britain’s recent decision to leave the European Union,” William said.
“The depth and the breadth of our cooperation will not change.”
The couple met French President Francois Hollande soon after arriving in the capital and on Saturday met victims of the November 2015 terror attack on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris.
The trip comes as William faces criticism in the British media for missing a Commonwealth celebration to go skiing with friends.
In the world’s fashion capital, Kate wore a sleeveless V-neck black dress by Alexander McQueen before changing into a gray-blue gown by British designer Jenny Packham later in the evening.
At a star-studded black-tie dinner at the ambassador’s residence, Kate was seated next to “Godzilla” star Jean Reno, while her husband had French actress Audrey Tautou and Kristin Scott-Thomas, the British actress who lives in Paris, for company.
They were served a starter of langoustine before a main course of roast lamb — but to the French media’s amusement, the traditional British mint sauce for the meat did not feature.
Although no official commemoration is planned during the trip, it will be impossible to escape the poignancy of Diana’s eldest son visiting the city where she died on August 31, 1997.
William was 15 and his brother Harry 12 when their mother and her Egyptian boyfriend Dodi Al-Fayed were killed after their Mercedes crashed in central Paris as it was being pursued by press photographers.
William, Kate visit Paris 20 years after Diana’s death
William, Kate visit Paris 20 years after Diana’s death
Arts festival’s decision to exclude Palestinian author spurs boycott
- A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival
SYDENY: A top Australian arts festival has seen the withdrawal of dozens of writers in a backlash against its decision to bar an Australian Palestinian author after the Bondi Beach mass shooting, as moves to curb antisemitism spur free speech concerns.
The shooting which killed 15 people at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Dec. 14 sparked nationwide calls to tackle antisemitism. Police say the alleged gunmen were inspired by Daesh.
The Adelaide Festival board said last Thursday it would disinvite Randa Abdel-Fattah from February’s Writers Week in the state of South Australia because “it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi.”
FASTFACTS
• Abdel-Fattah responded, saying it was ‘a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship.’
• Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival.
Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
Among the boycotting authors, Kathy Lette wrote on social media the decision to bar Abdel-Fattah “sends a divisive and plainly discriminatory message that platforming Australian Palestinians is ‘culturally insensitive.'”
The Adelaide Festival said in a statement on Monday that three board members and the chairperson had resigned. The festival’s executive director, Julian Hobba, said the arts body was “navigating a complex moment.”
a complex and unprecedented moment” after the “significant community response” to the board decision.
In the days after the Bondi Beach attack, Jewish community groups and the Israeli government criticized Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for failing to act on a rise in antisemitic attacks and criticized protest marches against Israel’s war in Gaza held since 2023.
Albanese said last week a Royal Commission will consider the events of the shooting as well as antisemitism and social cohesion in Australia. Albanese said on Monday he would recall parliament next week to pass tougher hate speech laws.
On Monday, New South Wales state premier Chris Minns announced new rules that would allow local councils to cut off power and water to illegally operating prayer halls.
Minns said the new rules were prompted by the difficulty in closing a prayer hall in Sydney linked to a cleric found by a court to have made statements intimidating Jewish Australians.
The mayor of the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield said the rules were ill-considered and councils should not be responsible for determining hate speech.
“Freedom of speech is something that should always be allowed, as long as it is done in a peaceful way,” Mayor Frank Carbone told Reuters.
