British Monarch visits France on Entente Cordial centennary

(5 Apr 2004)

1. Eurostar train arriving at Gare du Nord station
2. Children waving flags
3. Queen Elizabeth II being welcomed by French Transport Minister Gilles de Robien
4. Various of Queen Elizabeth II walking down platform
5. Various of Queen Elizabeth II at station being greeted by children
6. Queen receiving flowers from girl, gets into limousine
7. Various of Queen Elizabeth II leaving in limousine
8. French President Jacques Chirac with wife Bernadette waving
9. Queen arriving in car
10. Queen with Prince Philip being greeted by Chirac
11. Chirac walking with Queen
12. Close shot, guard of honour
13. Wide shot of Chirac and Queen walking past guard of honour on Champs Elysee with anthems being played
14. Various of ceremony
15. Procession passing along Champs Elysee
16. Queen arriving at Elysee palace
17. Queen and Prince Philip being welcomed by Chirac on red carpet, group photo on steps of Elysee palace

STORYLINE:

To the uplifting strains of "La Marseillaise," Queen Elizabeth II of Britain marched down the famed Champs-Elysees in Paris on Monday to kick off a pomp-filled state visit celebrating a century of friendship between France and Britain.

The British monarch''s three-day state visit coincides with the centennial of the Entente Cordiale, an agreement signed in London on April 8, 1904 that resolved colonial disputes and helped forge an Anglo-French alliance that has stood the test of time.

The Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, begin their state visit on the Eurostar train under the English Channel, a strong symbol of French-British cooperation.

The royal couple unveiled a commemorative plaque and then boarded a train car that the Queen christened "the Entente Cordiale."

The royal couple arrived in Paris several hours later.

Wearing a white suit and matching small-brimmed hat, the queen exited a dark-colored Bentley, then walked down the Champs-Elysees to inspect troops with President Jacques Chirac and his wife, Bernadette.

A military band played the British and French national anthems, "God Save the Queen" and the "La Marseillaise."

The royal couple was to take part in a dinner with Chirac at the presidential Elysees Palace later on Monday.

Queen Elizabeth has made three other state visits to France and many other private or official trips.

After her marriage in 1947, she paid a formal visit to France and Greece with Prince Philip.

She became Queen in 1953.

Paris was decked out with Union Jacks and French tricolor flags hanging side-by-side on lampposts.

On the Rue Montorgueil, a pedestrian market street where the Queen is to stroll on Tuesday, a chocolatier displayed a huge Easter egg with her likeness on it.

Queen Elizabeth, a devoted equestrian, will take in a show on Tuesday by an elite dressage team.

Also on the program: a stop at a Louvre Museum gallery to be devoted to British art, a dinner with the theme of cancer prevention, and a visit the headquarters of European plane-building powerhouse Airbus in southern France.

It is hope the visit will bolster ties strained over the Iraq war.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair was US President George W. Bush''s strongest backer for war plans, while Chirac was among Bush''s most outspoken critics.

There have been other diplomatic tiffs: in 1984, for example, when France''s late President Francois Mitterrand visited Britain to commemorate the Entente Cordiale''s 80th anniversary.

One of Mitterrand''s bodyguards planted explosives in the grounds of the French ambassador''s residence to test British security.

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