Windswept Mick Jagger among celebrities dining with the King and Macron at Versailles state dinner
Mick Jagger and Hugh Grant are among an eclectic array of guests rubbing shoulders with the King and Queen on Wednesday night at a lavish state banquet in Paris.
Up to 180 guests drawn from the worlds of sport, business and the arts joined the royal couple for the black tie soirée at the Palace of Versailles.
The stars made their way along the red carpet in a blustery courtyard with Sir Mick Jagger seen struggling with his windswept scarf.
The 80-year-old was accompanied by Melanie Hamrick, 36, a former ballerina with whom he is in a relationship.
Guests dined on lobster, poached Bresse chicken and a raspberry confection in the grandiose Hall of Mirrors.
Built in 1684 on the orders of “Sun King” Louis XIV, the hall – which takes its name from 357 mirrors that hang across a 220ft expanse – is the centrepiece of a palace designed to highlight the power and glory of the pre-revolution monarchy.
The guest list was drawn up by the Élysée, with attendees chosen to reflect the breadth of the France-UK relationship as well as notable national achievements.
Among those in attendance were the actresses Charlotte Gainsbourg and Emma Mackey, chef Raymond Blanc, former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, and the former Premier League footballers Didier Drogba and Patrick Vieira.
The guest list also included Welsh novelist Ken Follet, writer Kate Elliott, playwright Sir Christopher Hampton and the former French tennis player Amélie Mauresmo.
Bernard Arnault, the LVMH boss and France’s richest man, was also expected to attend, as well as Princess Zahra Aga Khan.
Photographers Bettina Rheims and Yann Arthus-Bertrand joined business leaders including Brian Moyniham, the president and chief executive of Bank of America, and Comte Edouard de Guittaut, the co-founder of Energy Future.
Other leading figures from the business world included Xavier Niel from Illiad, Leena Nair from Chanel, Luc Remont of EDF, Axel Dumas from Hermès and Jean-Dominique Sénard from Renault.
Before dinner, the King and Queen attended a small concert in the palace chapel by Swedish violinist Daniel Lozakovich. During the banquet, both the King and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, proposed toasts and the King gave a speech.
