President Emmanuel Macron blew a hole in his palace’s budget when he held a lavish state dinner of lobster and crab for King Charles last year, an annual audit has found.
The Elysee Palace spent close to €500,000 on the September visit by King Charles and Queen Camilla, which included about €40,000 on wine.
It was one of several gestures of Gallic opulence that tipped the palace into the red by €8.3 million.
In all, the Elysée Palace spent €125 million last year, the Cour des Comptes, France’s state auditor, recorded.
While that includes spending on Mr Macron’s diplomatic and presidential duties as well as administration, personnel, security and estate management.
Among the most expensive engagements were the events for the King and Narendra Modi, India’s president.
Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and actor Hugh Grant were among the 170-odd guests invited to Versailles Palace to mark the King’s visit, seen as a move by Mr Macron to smooth over France-British relations since Brexit.
The luxurious banquet was held on the first night of King Charles’ three-day state visit to France and was hosted by Mr Macron and his wife, Brigitte.
At a cost of close over €475,000 — which included a catering bill of €165,000 – the feast was executed by a team of 45 chefs led by Yannick Alléno, Anne-Sophie Pic and French pastry chef Pierre Hermé, who all have Michelin stars.
The menu took three months of planning, with the French classic foie gras ditched upon royal request.
After a starter of blue lobster and crab, inspired by Louis XIV’s tastes, the guests tucked into Mr Alléno’s poulet de Bresse with a cep gratin. For drinks, there were double magnums of chateau Mouton-Rothschild 2004 grand cru classé Pauillac, whose label was designed by Charles himself, and Pol Roger champagne.
Guests were seated around a 60m long table decorated with locally sourced roses and hydrangeas in shades of pink, purple and white, and served on plates made by the famous Porcelaine de Sevres.
A royal source said afterwards that the King and Queen were “really delighted by the whole thing”.
When Mr Modi visited in July, he was treated to a curation of the Louvre’s masterpieces by Mr Macron himself and an equally sumptuous dinner, which all came to €400,000.
While France’s audit court conceded that the Palace was more parsimonious on events like “cocktails for less than 100 people”, it was mostly critical of the Palace’s extravagance.
It was critical of the huge waste of money caused by poor planning, listing €830,000 lost in cancelling 12 apparently non-refundable trips.
Mr Macron’s critics often blast him as “the president of the rich”, but the reaction to the palace’s finances has so far been muted.
“Honestly, I had doubts until the last moment but it was the right choice. It was magnificent. All of France’s history has been written inside these walls. It was fairytale-like,” said one diplomatic source afterwards.
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Source: CNN
