- Title: Queen asked me to play The Beatles, ex-French president Hollande says
- Date: 10th September 2022
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 10, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (French) FORMER FRENCH PRESIDENT, FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, SAYING: "We had a state dinner during which she had told me about being a monarch but also as a friend of France, as well as about her taste for French culture and, generally, for the Arts. And so, at one point, the Republican Guard was playing classical music and I asked her: 'What kind of music would you like?' And she said: 'Could they play The Beatles?' So the orchestra played several songs by The Beatles. That was the Queen. She could be impressively stern because she believed that there should be a mark of respect toward what she represented, and at the same time (she had) a great humanity, this combination of austerity linked to her status, and a familiarity and elegance."
- Embargoed: 24th September 2022 13:36
- Keywords: Elysee Francois Hollande French President Paris Queen Elizabeth II monarchy
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Europe,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA003436010092022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Ex-French President Francois Hollande recalled on Saturday (September 10) how Queen Elizabeth had once asked him with her slight English accent for the Republican Guards' orchestra to play The Beatles during a state dinner.
Hollande hosted Queen Elizabeth in June 2014 for a three-day state visit that marked the 70th anniversary commemorations of the allied D-Day landings in World War Two.
"She had told me about being a monarch but also as a friend of France, as well as about her taste for French culture and, generally, for the Arts," Hollande, who was president until 2017, said.
"At one point, the Republican Guard was playing classical music and I asked her: 'What kind of music would you like?' And she said: 'Could they play The Beatles?' So the orchestra played several songs by The Beatles," Hollande told Reuters, referring to the military unit which provides guards of honour at official ceremonies.
The former president was at the British embassy with his actress wife Julie Gayet to mark his respects following the death of the British monarch.
"That was the Queen. She could be impressively stern ... and at the same time (she had) a great humanity ... She was a woman who had a knowledge of France, the French language which she spoke to perfection, while adding a slight accent, as to remind us of her origins," he said.
"She had this will to preserve the ties between France and the United Kingdom, despite what could and still can separate us, such as Brexit. She was there to show us that the link between France and the United Kingdom is unbreakable and unwavering."
(Production: Antony Paone, Manuel Ausloos) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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