King Charles III has allowed foreign leaders to walk in front of him while inspecting troops during every state visit

[Celerity]

Did Macron break royal protocol walking in front of King Charles during UK state visit? What to know

Royal protocol is seldom codified but Macron was not the only foreign leader to commit the alleged gaffe.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/macron-royal-protocol-charles/

In July 2025, after French President Emmanuel Macron made a state visit to the U.K., a claim (archived) circulated online that Macron broke royal protocol when he walked in front of King Charles III while inspecting British troops on July 8. One X user, who shared the claim in French, wrote (translated by DeepL.com) "Emmanuel Macron breaks royal protocol by walking in front of King Charles III. This impostor does not represent France, and no one can stand him in France or anywhere else in the world." The claim circulated alongside a clip from the British news outlet GB News' coverage (archived) of Macron inspecting British guards. The claim circulated widely on X (archived) and also appeared on Reddit (archived) and TikTok (archived).



We found no evidence that Macron broke royal protocol by walking in front of Charles during the July 8 troop inspection. Commentators in the GB News clip noted that U.S. President Donald Trump faced "unfair" criticism for doing the same during a state visit in 2018. Including Macron, there have been five state visits to the U.K. during Charles' reign. Images and video from all five visits showed the foreign leader walking in front of Charles when inspecting troops, indicating that this may in fact be the protocol, if one exists. Therefore, we rate this claim false.

There have been five state visits (including Macron) to the U.K. since the start of Charles' reign in 2022.................

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[Kali]

1. interesting

I would hate to have to be constrained by all the rules but they are interesting. too bad the UK has to kiss orange ass, but it is certainly understandable (and pretty easy to do if one can keep from vomiting while praising and flattering it)

[sl8]

2. Thank you for the fact check. nt