French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to make a state visit to the Principality “by the end of the year”, according to France’s Ambassador to Monaco, Jean d’Haussonville, who has emphasised a “desire” from both sides to make it happen.
No president of France has made a state visit to Monaco since François Mitterrand’s trip to meet with Prince Rainier III in 1984, a full 40 years ago. Incidentally, the late French leader was the first and only leader of France to have ever made an official state visit to the Principality.
This is likely to change in 2024 if the revelations by d’Haussonville, France’s Ambassador to Monaco, do come to pass.
The diplomat, who was confirmed as France’s official envoy to the Principality back in September 2023, has publicly said that there should be a formalised trip by President Macron to Monaco “by the end of the year”.
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There are also plans in the works for Prince Albert II to travel to the Élysée in Paris for a reciprocal visit. This would mark the first time that a Prince of Monaco has been to the City of Light on an official state visit since Prince Rainier III’s visit in 1959, which came on the back of the election of General Charles de Gaulle.
“The Prince has made working visits, official visits to France, but never at the protocol level of a state visit with all the honours of the Republic,” explained the ambassador. “It will be an expression of full support from France to the Principality of Monaco.”
Prince Albert’s most recent high-profile visit to France, when he met with President Macron to discuss topics such as the Paris Agreement and the rights of French citizens working in Monaco, came back in 2019.
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Though it may seem odd that two nations so intertwined have little history of these kinds of visits, it does not mean they are not friendly nor lacking in communication. French presidents and Monegasque sovereigns often meet and see each other at working events, such as conferences and the like, but these are classified in a different context.
“It is really a desire on both sides [that] this visit should take the form of a state visit, which qualifies the highest level of protocol in terms of travel,” said d’Haussonville of the potential upcoming event.
A state visit adds a level of formality to the proceedings and comes with certain requirements, such as a stay of at least one night as a guest in the host country and distinguished honours being bestowed on the visitor.
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Photo credit: Palais Princier de Monaco, 2019