H.M. Konungens tal vid besök i Pau, Frankrike

Your Majesty,
Your Royal Highnesses,
Mr. Mayor,
Excellences,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to extend my sincere thank you to Mr. Bayrou and the City of Pau. Thank you for your warm hospitality and for organising these French-Swedish celebrations in a magnificent setting. It is very much appreciated by me and my family.

I am delighted to, again, be here in Pau – the place of birth of my ancestor, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. Two hundred years ago, in 1818, he ascended the Swedish throne as King Karl XIV Johan.

His journey from Maison Balagué in Pau to the Royal Palace in Stockholm was, in many ways, unlikely. But his destiny would form an eternal link between our two countries.

Today’s reopening of the newly renovated Musée Bernadotte was an important moment; not only in my family’s history, but in the shared history of our two countries.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the city of Pau for its support in the renovation of the museum. And for preparing the ambitious cultural program of “Automne Scandinave”.

France and Sweden are linked together by history. But also by the present – and the future! Trade, industry, research and innovation, climate and energy, culture and art are areas where we have seen active and fruitful exchanges over the years.

I am very pleased that France and Sweden, in the same spirit, have entered into an innovation partnership, signed by President Macron and Prime Minister Löfven in November 2017.

Yes; there is indeed an active and ongoing exchange and dialogue between France and Sweden in different areas.

But what is maybe even more important: there is a warm friendship between us. A friendship that I am confident will continue for many more centuries to come.

Once again, thank you.

Now, as a sign of our friendship and of my appreciation, I would like to present Mayor Bayrou with the memorial medal of the bicentennial jubilee of Karl XIV Johan’s accession to the throne.