The VIP guest list for tonight’s State Banquet at Versailles includes Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and French multi-billionaire Bernard Arnault – the richest man in the world.
Organisers have invited a range of celebrities to eat and drink with King Charles and Queen Camilla in the lavish Hall of Mirrors – a space designed to reflect the omnipotence of the Sun King, Louis XIV.
Rock royalty Mr Jagger, 80, will be travelling from his own stately home – the Château de Fourchette (Fork House) in the Indre-et-Loire department – for the evening.
Mr Arnault, 74, owns luxury mansions in Paris and Bordeaux and is the head of the LVMH luxury goods conglomerate, which includes brands like Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior.
Rich lists regularly put him at Number 1, with his fortune estimated by Forbes to be £178billion. In 2012 he was made Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire ‘for services to business’ by the late Queen Elizabeth II.
In their first visit to the country as King and Queen, Charles, 76, and Camilla, 74, will undertake 21 high-profile engagements
Rock royalty Mr Jagger, 80, will be travelling from his own stately home in the Indre-et-Loire department for the evening
Bernard Arnault, 74, is the head of the LVMH luxury goods conglomerate, and owns multiple homes around the world
The red carpet has been rolled out for King Charles and Queen Camilla’s arrival in Paris
Franco-British actors on the 150-strong guest list include Charlotte Gainsbourg, 52, and Emma Mackey, 27, from the Netflix series, ‘Sex Education’.
Actor Hugh Grant, 63, who owns a home in France, will also be there. The 90s heartthrob has previously joked that he is only truly happy when in France.
Sports personalities who are invited to include former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, 73, and ace midfielder Patrick Vieira, 47, along with former Chelsea and Ivory Coast striker, Didier Drogba, 45.
Glamourous 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 stamp of approval.
The chefs have been banned from serving foie gras, a French specialty which Charles has famously shunned over animal welfare concerns, with the King said to have provided a strict list of culinary demands for the meal.
There will, however, be plenty of mushrooms served to the King and Queen, which are a favourite as 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 throw a lavish state banquet in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles to mark the King and Queen’s arrival
The dinner will serve as a welcome to the British monarch as his three-day state visit to France gets underway today.
The highly-anticipated trip was postponed amid widespread rioting in April, which gripped the French capital and cities across France.
In their first visit to the country as King and Queen, Charles, 76, and Camilla, 74, dividing their time between Paris and Bordeaux.
As well as tonight’s star-studded dinner, Charles and Camilla have 21 high-profile engagements to look forward to in just three days.
The most important item on Charles’s itinerary is likely to be his address the French senate, the first by a British royal in which he will speak in both English and French.
