Emmanuel Macron exempt from UK's 14-day quarantine ahead of Prince Charles visit on Thursday
Prince Charles will host Emmanuel Macron during a visit to London on 18 June - but the French leader won’t have to isolate on arrival.
Clarence House confirmed Macron will visit Charles’ London home to mark the 80th anniversary of Charles de Gaulle’s ‘appel’ the French population to resist the German occupation of France during the Second World War.
London will be granted France’s highest decoration – Legion d’Honneur - during the visit.
But unlike most others arriving on British soil during the coronavirus pandemic, Macron won’t have to isolate for 14 days.
A Downing Street spokesman told Politics Home the delegation will qualify for a special exemption.
Currently anyone who arrives in the UK has to provide details of where they are staying for the 14 days quarantine and could be fined £1,000 if they don’t comply.
The spokesman said: “As we set out in the guidelines when they were published, the French delegation will fall within the exempted category of representative of a foreign country or territory travelling to undertake business in the UK.”
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Clarence House said the president and the delegation would be received by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and will have a Guard of Honour found by Number 7 Company Coldstream Guards accompanied by the Band of the Coldstream Guards.
According to Press Association, a Clarence House spokeswoman said Government guidelines on social distancing would be followed and part of the welcome would be staged in the open air.
Yahoo UK understands coronavirus regulation and social distancing guidelines will be followed, with all participants briefed beforehand.
The meeting is not thought to signal the return of frequent in-person engagements for the royals, though there are some scheduled in the next week.
Charles and Camilla are currently in Scotland, where they have been living since the middle of March.
It’s not clear when they intend to come back to London and whether they will then stay there for the long term once they come back.
Scotland has been taking a different route out of lockdown to England, and current rules show you can only travel five miles within the country to exercise.
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However the next phase of lockdown lifting there will involve visits indoors being allowed, which comes into force on 18 June.
It could mean the duke and duchess would not be allowed to return to their Aberdeenshire home if they go back to London.
Charles, 71, has already fought off COVID-19, having tested positive early on in the pandemic.
He suffered mild symptoms and was able to continue working throughout. Since then, he and his wife Camilla, who tested negative for the disease, have worked from home carrying out video calls and engagements from Birkhall.
Yahoo UK has contacted Clarence House for further information.