Macron vows not to follow the path of guillotined French royals

Macron vows not to follow the path of guillotined French royals… as he addresses world’s top business leaders at Versailles ahead of annual Davos meeting of global elite

  • Macron said King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette had ‘given up on reforming’
  • He has been accused of running an ‘imperial’ presidency and being out of touch 
  • Speaking to bosses including CEO of Microsoft he vowed to continue reforms

Emmanuel Macron has vowed to avoid the fate of the guillotined royals of France in the wake of the ‘yellow vest’ riots which have thrown his presidency into turmoil.  

Speaking at the former royal palace of Versailles, Macron said King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette had met their end ‘because they had given up on reforming’. 

He told top CEOs including Microsoft’s Satya Nadella that he would press ahead with his promised reforms despite the protests. 

It comes ahead of a global meeting of political and business elites at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which Macron will not attend as he deals with the crisis.  

Emmanuel Macron (right), pictured at Versailles last night with Procter & Gamble CEO David Scott Taylor, has vowed to avoid the fate of the guillotined French royals 

Louis XVI was beheaded exactly 226 years ago yesterday after failing to plug the French monarchy’s dismal finances amid popular discontent over a sclerotic feudal society, prompting a revolution.  

Macron himself has been accused of running an ‘imperial’ presidency and being out of touch with ordinary people. 

Images of yellow vest protesters attacking public monuments, banks and riot police were beamed around the world and have thrown his presidency into crisis.  

But at the dinner in Versailles he reassured top corporate chiefs that he would not call off his reforms. 

He said: ‘The solution to the crisis is not to roll back what we have done in the past 18 months.’ 

The protests were part of a wider reaction against globalisation which included Brexit and the growth of populism in Germany and Italy, he said.  

The yellow vest protests - pictured in Paris on Saturday when they staged their tenth consecutive weekend demonstration - have thrown Macron's presidency into crisis 

The yellow vest protests – pictured in Paris on Saturday when they staged their tenth consecutive weekend demonstration – have thrown Macron’s presidency into crisis 

‘There are questions about the protests’ magnitude, about the violence, because these images are shocking for foreigners,’ a source at Macron’s office said. 

‘Last year, the summit was in a totally different dynamic, it was all about ‘France is back’. 

‘Here we’re in a tougher part of the term domestically and that requires more explanations.’  

Macron was elected in May 2017 on a promise to revive France, create jobs and drive growth by cutting corporate taxes and easing France’s rigid labour regulations.

He began making good on those campaign pledges during his first 18 months in office in a reform blitz that impressed investors. 

But he has infuriated low-paid workers, who feel he favours big business and is indifferent to their struggle to make ends meet, prompting the protests.  

Macron is not attending the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, his office says, so that he can deal with quelling the yellow vest uprising. 

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