As Charles and Camilla prepare to visit Paris, what do the French think of British royalty?

The desire to have a republic stemmed from the French people's belief that the king was corrupt, unaccountable and was potentially in cahoots with the nobility to ensure the majority of the people of France were obediently ploughing on through the starvation and generally desperate times.

Fast forward to 2023 and Britain is enjoying something of an economic misery itself. Our royal family are scanning the portfolio of their charitable efforts and making sure they look as relevant as ever. After all, if there are any lessons from our nearest neighbour across the English Channel, it's that when the people - normal, working and middle class folk, who toil and labour for a fraction of the money and home comforts on offer to nobility - are pushed to their limits, there will be no mercy for the rich.

It has also long been clear that the malaise of appetite for protest in the UK is not the case in France.

In France, they will protest, protest, protest.

Whether it be for the high price and scarcity of bread, as they did during the Women's March on Versailles in 1789, or whether it's more recent events such as in October last year when thousands of people marched in Paris to protest the cost of living crisis. Inequality is a huge theme of French discord.

And so, the British royal family is something of a conundrum for French society. They look to Britain's monarchy with nostalgia and maybe a hangover of guilt for historical events in their own nation. They enjoy seeing the distracting pomp and ceremony of royal life and big occasions. Would they ever want a monarchy themselves again?

The current president of France, Emmanuel Macron, said on the subject of King Louis XIV: "The presence of a King, a King whom, fundamentally, I don’t think the French people wanted dead".

Macron was a big fan of the late Queen Elizabeth II, giving her a horse belonging to the French Republican Guard to mark her jubilee in June 2022. He attended her funeral in September 2022, alongside his wife, Brigitte, and he had phoned Charles III before the funeral to offer his condolences speaking of France's "unbreakable tie" with the UK.

This was a timely reminder of the close bond and helped to off-set any potential damage from our Liz Truss era (of 44 days) - do you recall? - when she answered a question on whether French President Emmanuel Macron is a "friend or foe" and she replied with "the jury is out". She later backtracked and called him a "friend". C'était une farce.

King Charles III and Camilla, queen consort, are due to visit Paris on 26 March and the new king is going to be the first British monarch to give a speech to an audience of senators and assembly members - as well as the first to address German politicians from the Bundestag (German parliament).

Things are being closely monitored by royal courtiers and aides as the protests rumble on in Paris, this time over the unpopular pension reform that has caused violent clashes between protesters and police. Macron is aiming to push the age of retirement from 62 to 64 to fill a deficit in budget for pensions. He only just survived a vote of no-confidence - by a mere nine votes - from the national assembly on Monday 20 March.

It'll be a welcome distraction for Macron to have Charles and Camilla visit. If Macron is worried he is about to be metaphorically axed, then seeing a man who is about to be crowned in a rather lush ceremony, what the heck, very splendid opulence, is a good trick to keep the French looking north to the dizzying array of goings-on in the UK.

For the French people, things may seem bad - they probably are bad - but look at Britain. We're performing the lowest standards of living and life expectancy of all G7 nations. We've a long legacy of been renowned for a democratic governance, but now look how the Tories operate and survive on really very little promise to the British electorate. It must be a thing of wonder and dismay to the rest of Europe when they see how things are unravelling six years post-Brexit.

Will the British people protest? Maybe a little and in small numbers. We've got Netflix to watch and social media opinions to give, or view, or whatever.

The fact King Charles III has chosen France as his first state visit abroad as monarch reveals all we need to know about the kind of reception he hopes to enjoy. The feeling on the ground must be that the French are receptive and happy to see royalty. For Macron, it will be a case of buying time and hoping to alleviate the mood of a frayed working and middle class.