- Jul 1, 2018
- 2,149
It was a chilly morning but the streets of Paris had been shut down by the National Police as President-elect Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron arrived at the Élysée Palace for the inauguration ceremony event which was to mark the beginning of a new term for the President of France. The day was to include the transferring of power between the president-elect and the outgoing president, but also of a variety of ceremonial devices, both civil and military. The first port of call was an inspection of the French Republican Guard which he precisely inspected flanked by his wife by his side. He shared a salute at the end with Major General Vincent Bio-Farina. The president-elect walked up the stairs of the Élysée Palace where he met outgoing Jacques Chirac where they were snapped shaking hands. The two then headed inside where they shared a conversation in the Golden Room, effectuating the handover, including the communication access codes of the French submarine arsenal, which constituted an exclusive prerogative of the President. Emmanuel Macron then accompanied the outgoing president to the courtyard where he left the Élysée Palace for good in a motorcade to his home in the north of Paris, honoured by a salute from the Republican Guard as he left.
The President-elect then returned inside for the inauguration ceremony itself which was held in the ballroom of the Élysée Palace, invited guests included party officials, his family, friends, the Presidents of both chambers of the French Parliament and members of the National Assembly and Senate. The new head of state then signed the minutes of investiture. The Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor then pins on the lapel of the President the rosette of the Grand Cross and presents to him the Grand Collar of the Legion of Honour which was composed of sixteen rings of solid gold placed on a red velvet cushion and pronounced the ritual phrase before the crowd ruptured into applauses and cheers before the new President made his way to the lecturn to address the hall and the country as a whole.
"To the country, you’ve chosen to put your trust in me, and I want to express my deep gratitude to you. It’s a great honour and it’s a great responsibility, because nothing was inevitable. I want to say thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. My gratitude goes to all those of you who provided their vote and their support. I won’t forget you. I’ll put all my care and energy into being worthy of your trust. But at this moment I want to address all of you, the citizens of our country, whatever choice you made. Many difficulties have weakened us for too long. I’m fully aware of them, the economic difficulties, the social divisions, the democratic deadlock and the moral weakening of the country. I will do my utmost best to make our country strong again, we will do our best to fix unemployment and help the working class as energy costs soar, a new page in our history has been turned this evening. I want it to be that of renewed hope and confidence. From this morning, and for the next five years, I am going to serve on your behalf wherever you lie on the political spectrum, with humility, devotion and determination. Long live the Republic, long live France!"
After the ceremony, the president headed to the terrace of the park of the Élysée, accompanied by the newly elected Prime Minister and the presidents of both chambers, to receive military honours rendered by the Republican Guard and to render homage to the French flag while La Marseillaise plays. The new president then inspected the troops assembled at the palace once again. Simultaneously, a 21-gun salute is fired from the Les Invalides by a battery of honour of the French artillery to mark the presidential inauguration before the crowds began to disappear back inside as the President was officially sworn in.