Elizabeth II had put Toulouse in the pocket, this April 7, 2004. The Queen of England, who died this Thursday, September 8 at the age of 96, had arrived dressed in a purple suit, in homage to the violet of Toulouse. She had also received a bouquet of flowers on her arrival at Place du Capitole.
During this half-day Toulouse, at the heart of the State visit of April 2004, Elizabeth II was accompanied by Philippe Douste-Blazy. The former mayor of Toulouse had just entered the government, as Minister of Health. He remembers that particular day.
What memories do you have of that day?
In 2004, we had the great honor of hosting Queen Elizabeth. I was both Minister of Health and Mayor of Toulouse. And it was a state visit! A state visit is when a monarch or head of state spends more than two days in a country. And the Queen of England had decided to come to Toulouse.
I picked her up at Blagnac airport, with Bernadette Chirac. And then as we arrived at Place du Capitole, I saw an increasingly large mass of people. At the Capitol, there was a crowd.
I vividly remember a little girl wanting to shake hands with the Queen who, by definition, can’t touch someone. And the queen, on the contrary, went to her, shook her hand, took her against her.
In this square, there were hundreds of people, it was an extraordinary moment. Then we had lunch together, and we talked a lot together.
She was dressed in purple from head to toe. A nod to the Toulouse violet
What did you tell yourself? She had time to see Toulouse and the pink brick?
Sure. We showed him. We explained to him. First, I was extremely touched because when she arrived at the airport, the door of the Airbus A319 opened, and she was dressed in purple! Purple from head to toe. So it was a nod to the Toulouse violet.
And then she told me about Airbus because of course, it’s something that binds our two countries above all. She spoke perfect French. We just had a little disagreement… It was when we talked about rugby, with Prince Philippe (her husband). I explained to him that Stade Toulousain was still better than the British! It made him laugh a lot, but Prince Philippe a lot less (laughs).
I told him that Stade Toulousain was better than the British
Was it a real pride to receive her in Toulouse?
Yes, because it practically represents the second part of the XXᵉ century and the first part of the XXIᵉ. She was an exceptional woman, a woman who went through crises, who always had a sense of duty and who showed by her example what a monarch is, what a monarch should be.