After 120 years of Entente Cordiale, an unprecedented changing of the guard between the Élysée and Buckingham

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The United Kingdom and France celebrated on Monday the 120th anniversary of this treaty, considered the foundation of the alliance between the two countries.

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Members of the Republican Guard and the Grenadiers of the British Royal Household, during the celebration of 120 years of the Entente Cordiale, at Buckingham Palace, April 8, 2024. (HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)

Bear hair caps, swords and cadenced steps: with an unprecedented changing of the guard between the Élysée and Buckingham Palace, France and the United Kingdom celebrated the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale on Monday April 8 between the two countries. Signed in 1904, the Entente Cordiale agreement helped improve relations between France and the United Kingdom after the Napoleonic Wars. It is to this day considered the foundation of the alliance between the two members of NATO, with an often tumultuous friendship.

Grenadiers from the British Royal Household were involved in the ceremonial changing of the guard in the main courtyard of the Élysée Palace, in the presence of the Head of State and the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to France , Menna Rowlings. The 16 members of the “Number 7 Company Coldstream Guards” from the British Embassy, ​​wearing their traditional “bearskin”the high fur hat, took part in the relief of their French counterparts from two sections of the 1st Infantry Regiment.

A great first

The French Army Choir then sang the two anthems, God Save the King and La Marseillaise. “This is the first time in the history of the Élysée that a foreign troop has been invited to participate in this military ritual”, underlines the French presidency. In Buckingham, it is also the first time that a country not a member of the Commonwealth, an organization which mainly includes former English-speaking British colonies and possessions, took part in the changing of the guard.

In front of the palace of King Charles III, the two anthems rang out. The Grenadiers of the royal household also played the March “L’Entente cordiale”, composed more than 100 years ago by Gabriel Allier to celebrate the agreement between the two countries.

“While Brexit was voted on and then implemented, while (…) the war returns and our challenges are immense, this cordial understanding is in some way the foundation so old but so relevant in our current times which allows us to maintain the bilateral relationship”declared Emmanuel Macron in a video posted on X. “This great partnership makes us all safer and stronger”, greeted British Defense Minister Grant Shapps. United Kingdom and France “will continue to tackle the challenges posed by a more dangerous world.”


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