WASHINGTON, April 6 (UPI) -- As a constitutional monarch Britain's Queen Elizabeth II rarely comments publicly on political issues, although in her weekly meetings with successive prime ministers she has never been shy in expressing her views. But this week in Paris she made a rare foray into the political arena, urging Britain and France to mend the rift caused by the Iraq war and stand together in the war against terrorism -- and then told the French it was important to maintain strong relations with the United States.
The queen was on a state visit to Paris to mark the centenary of the 1904 Anglo-French agreement known as the "Entente Cordiale," or friendly understanding, at a time of recent strains in the relationship because of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's strong support of the Bush administration over Iraq, and President Jacques Chirac's equally forceful opposition.
At a state dinner in her honor Monday night the queen took the highly unusual step of tackling the issue of Anglo-French relations head-on. Britain and France "cannot let immediate political pressures, however strongly felt on both sides, stand between us in the long term," Queen Elizabeth said in her after-dinner speech. "We are both reminded that neither of our two great nations, nor Europe, nor the wider Western Alliance, can afford the luxury of short-term division or discord in the face of the threats to our security and prosperity that now challenge us all."
On Tuesday, speaking in the French parliament, she addressed the tensions between France and the United States. "We have both made the choice of Europe and the European Union as a principal vehicle for our economic and political aspirations," she said. "For both of us this does not, nor should not, in any way weaken our strong ties of friendship to the United States. These are complimentary relationships."
This was the queen's fourth visit of state to Paris, arriving from London aboard a train via the Channel Tunnel which symbolically now links the two nations, and driven by two drivers, one French one English. President Chirac met her at the Gare du Nord -- the fourth French head of state to welcome her. The others were, Francois Mitterrand (1992), Georges Pompidou (1972), and Rene Coty (1957).
When she appeared outside the Elysee Palace, the French president's official residence, to walk the short distance to the British Embassy on the rue du Faubourg Ste. Honore, a crowd of several hundred Parisians gathered to cheer: "Vive la Reine," as speakers pounded out Land of Hope and Glory. The French admire her for her natural dignity and the fact that she speaks fluent French -- but not for her dress sense, which they find staid, and even fussy.
Her husband Prince Philip kept falling behind as he lingered to chat with people in the crowd. At one point reporters heard him say in French to a woman whom he had first addressed in English: "Oh, I beg your pardon. Are you French? I took you for a Scottish woman."
British sources told reporters in Paris that the queen's two key speeches reflected the views of the British government -- a balance in relations between Paris and Washington. The sources also said it was safe to assume that there had been input from Blair's office in Downing Street.
But royal watchers commented on the unusually forthright personal tone of the two texts. In her Monday speech she said, "If I may be allowed tonight one small British understatement, our historical relationship has not always been smooth. For centuries we fought each other fiercely, often and everywhere: from Hastings to Waterloo, from the Heights of Abraham to the mouth of the Nile.
"But since 1815 our two nations have not been to war. On the contrary, we have stood together, resolute in the defense of liberty and democracy, notably through the terrible global conflicts of the 20th century."
Concluding her remarks, she said: "Of course, we will never agree on everything. Life would be dull indeed, not least for the rest of the world, if we did not allow ourselves a little space to live up to our national caricatures: the British pragmatism and French élan, French conceptualism and British humor, British rain and French sun -- I think we should enjoy the complementarity of it all. I believe our two peoples understand this sometimes more clearly than our governments."
Raising her glass, the queen proposed a toast -- "Vive la difference mais (but) vive L'Entente Cordiale."
But the devil is in the details, as they say, and there were several small but significant differences. The queen brought her own car -- a maroon-colored Bentley sedan. And when it came to the customary exchange of gifts, Chirac's presents included a commemorative 20-euro coin, the European common currency that the British have so far refused to adopt. Queen Elizabeth handed the French president a commemorative five pound sterling coin.
