As the G7 ends in Évian, Donald Trump is expected this Wednesday, June 17 in the evening at the Palace of Versailles, a place that meets the American president’s taste for sumptuous settings. “Versailles isn’t gold plated, it’s heavy,” Donald Trump boasted on the eve of the event.
“It’s not a gala dinner or anything. No, it’s a dinner to celebrate 250 years of American independence, because France played a role in it,” argued Emmanuel Macron. It was there that the treaty establishing the United States was signed in 1783. “This will be our moment of celebration of friendship” between the two countries, added the head of state.
Since its construction in the 17th century, the Palace of Versailles has been considered by the absolute monarchy as a symbol of power. The Empire continues to receive certain prestigious guests there, such as Queen Victoria (1855). After the defeat of 1870, the new republican regime, isolated in the face of a Europe still dominated by monarchies, took up this tradition, welcoming Tsar Nicholas II (1896) and King George V (1938), then his daughter Elizabeth II (1957).
A center of diplomatic diplomacy, the monument has retained over the centuries its role as a brand image, representative of French hospitality. These sumptuous receptions have a double objective: to honor a guest but also to impress them, in the setting of royalty who shined throughout Europe
Modernized by Charles de Gaulle
At the beginning of the Fifth Republic, the Palace of Versailles became, under the leadership of Charles de Gaulle – who saw it the symbol of the continuity of French power – the privileged place to welcome the foreign guests of the presidency.
Electrification of the Hall of Mirrors, complete restoration of the Grand Trianon… The general is the architect of the modernization of the building. The apartment intended for visiting heads of state and their spouses is located in the former apartment of the Empress, in the left wing of the Grand Trianon.
Gala evenings, which often last four hours, can include a meal bringing together more than a hundred guests, an organ concert, a performance at the royal opera and a walk through the gardens. The King of the Belgians, Baudoin I, and then the American President John F. Kennedy in 1961 were received there.
In 1982, the G7 summit organized by François Mitterrand marked the peak of the Republic dinners in the area. Questioned about this choice in an INA archive, the president explains that it is above all a question of “receiving well” from friendly countries, “in the name of the French people”. According to him, this internationally renowned place contributes to the “radiation of France”.
To those who criticize the castle for its lack of republican spirit, the head of state responds: “But the people of Paris also came to Versailles! » in reference to a revolutionary episode.
Emmanuel Macron reconnects with the splendor of Versailles
After the 1980s, the doors of the Palace of Versailles gradually closed to major state receptions, and protocol relaxed. The growing influx of tourists complicates the organization of large events.
In addition, public opinion increasingly disapproves of these sumptuous dinners in a place that it associates with the Ancien Régime. Most diplomatic conferences and meetings are now held in embassies in Paris or at the Élysée.
Since the 2000s, the choice of the few nations received has not been trivial. China, the world’s second largest economic power, is invited to Versailles three times, followed by Russia. If in 2014, François Hollande received Xi Jinping without excessive ceremony, Emmanuel Macron returned to the splendor of Versailles.
In 2017, the head of state invited his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. In 2022, he received the President of the United Arab Emirates at a sumptuous dinner under the peristyle of the Grand Trianon, and organized the Choose France Summit in the area, an annual meeting with international investors. The following year, a dinner was given for the King of England, Charles III. A symbolic choice to mark the warming of relations with the United Kingdom, seven years after Brexit.
