French president fills seats for stylish Royal Gallery speech, after snubbing Farage and meeting the kingIt wasn’t quite the Pyramid stage. When the queen, the pope, Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama were invited to address both houses of parliament, they were given Westminster Hall. On the first state visit of any European leader since Brexit, Emmanuel Macron had to make do with the Royal Gallery. The UK has been on quite the journey since Liz Truss was unable to identify the French president as friend or foe.Still, the Royal Gallery is not a bad second-best. Indeed, if Donald Trump gets a similar invitation – in doubt, as everyone is trying to avoid that possibility by staging his visit in parliamentary recess – he might even prefer it. Enough gold paint and gilt to satisfy any simple narcissist. Continue reading...