Ahead of King Charles and Queen Camilla’s State Visit to France, we thought it would be a good idea to cover when the British Royal Family hosted French President Vincent Auriol and Madame Auriol on their State Visit to the United Kingdom on this day in 1950, during the French State Visit to Britain, reaffirming the Anglo-French alliance after the Second World War. This was the first State Visit to Britain following the Second World War, with the last Alsing having been a French State Visit in 1939.
French President Vincent Auriol and Madame Auriol were received by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on arrival at Victoria Station, along with the extended British Royal Family. Following the Official Welcome, the Royal Party rode in a Ceremonial Procession to Buckingham Palace.
In the evening, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (wearing her Crown, Coronation Rivière, and Queen Victoria’s Fringe Brooch) hosted a spectacular State Banquet in honour of President Vincent Auriol and Madame Auriol, following which the party viewed fireworks from the Balcony of Buckingham Palace, joined by Princess Elizabeth (in the Nizam of Hyderabad Tiara and Nizam of Hyderabad Necklace), the Duke of Gloucester, and Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (wearing the Kent Pearl Bandeau).
The following evening, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (wearing the Oriental Circlet Tiara and Queen Victoria’s Crown Ruby Parure) joined President and Madame Auriol for a glittering Gala Performance at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.
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Members of the Royal Family in attendance included Princess Elizabeth (wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara and her City of London Fringe Necklace)…
…the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester (in the Gloucester Honeysuckle Tiara), the Duchess of Kent (wearing the Kent City of London Fringe Tiara), Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood (in her Fringe Tiara), Lady Patricia Ramsay (wearing her Diamond Tiara), the Earl and Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (in her Diamond Palmette Tiara), Princess Marie Louise (in the Cartier India Tiara), the Marquess and Marchioness of Carisbrooke (wearing the Teck Ears of Wheat Tiara)…
… the Duchess of Northumberland (in her Diamond Tiara), and the Countess Spencer (wearing the Spencer Honeysuckle Tiara).
At the end of the State Visit, President Vincent Auriol and Madame Auriol hosted a Banquet for the British Royal Family at the French Embassy in London, at which the King, Queen (wearing the Greville Tiara), and Duchess of Northumberland (in her Strawberry Leaf Coronet).
British State Visit to France in 1855 | Royal Visit to Paris in 1938 | French State Visit in 1939 | French State Visit to Britain in 1950 | British State Visit to Paris in 1957 | French State Visit to Britain in 1960 | British State Visit to France in 1972 | Prince and Princess of Wales in Paris 1988 | French State Visit to Britain in 2008 | Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Paris in 2017
