King Charles arrived in Paris today on the first stage of a three day state visit to France, a country his mother adored. The French media view the trip as a chance to repair Anglo-French relations, which according to the front page of Liberation have been ‘strained since Brexit’.

The general tone of the French reporting is that this is solely the fault of those 17.4 million fools who, to paraphrase Emmanuel Macron, fell for the ‘lies and false promises’ of the Leave campaign.

In Liberation’s opinion, Brexit has proved a ‘catastrophe, notably economically’ with inflation and the cost of living soaring. It’s true that Britain is not thriving at the moment, but nor is the eurozone. The EU Commission has just cut its growth forecast as Germany slips into recession, and other economies, particularly Italy and Holland, are also in trouble. What is to blame for their decline?

Liberation is correct, however, in describing relations between Britain and France as ‘strained’, but don’t point the finger at Brexit. There is one man above all others who is responsible for the deterioration, and he resides in the Élysée Palace.

An intriguing imponderable is to imagine what might have happened had the Remain vote triumphed in June 2016. Would Anglo-French relations have been fine and dandy?

David Cameron would have probably stayed prime minister until 2020, and perhaps beyond. Would Cameron have had a good relationship with Emmanuel Macron? How would Cameron have reacted to the strutting Gallic pipsqueak, a political novice, throwing his weight around in Brussels?

Cameron had a brief run-in with Macron, indirectly, in 2012 when he mocked the sclerotic French economy and boasted that Britain would ‘roll out the red carpet’ to business leaders wishing to escape Hollande’s Socialist hell-hole.

Macron demands respect, and the only Britons ever to show him any are members of the Royal Family

A month before Cameron’s jibe, Macron had joined Hollande’s administration as an advisor and he rose swiftly through the ranks. He was the economy minister by the time he visited London in 2014 to challenge what the BBC described as the ‘anti-French mood in London economic circles’. In a briefing with French journalists en route to the British capital, Macron revealed what he thought of the nation’s journalists: ‘Whether we like it or not, the Anglo-Saxon press are the opinion formers in Europe.’

These are clues in Macron’s backstory as to why he really harbours a grudge against Britain; it’s not Brexit, it’s our irreverence. From Cameron to Fleet Street, the president of France believes he is never been accorded the respect he deserves.

Macron demands respect, and the only Britons ever to show him any are members of the Royal Family. That is why he is so gushing in his praise of the monarchy. He was eloquent in his eulogy of Queen Elizabeth II twelve months ago, and he is genuinely delighted to host Charles and Camilla on their State Visit.

It was initially scheduled for March but was postponed after violent protests against Macron’s pension reforms. Some of the left were cock-a-hoop. ‘Two kings were to meet in Versailles’, crowed La France Insoumise MP Raquel Garrido. ‘One down, one to go.’

It was a puerile taunt but one that contained an essential truth: Macron does regard himself as the king of France, and when he hosts Charles and Camilla to a state banquet this evening at the Palace of Versailles he’ll act like the Sun King, the nickname bestowed on him when he acceded to power in 2017 because of his regal behaviour.

Two years earlier, when still a relative unknown, Macron was asked in an interview if the democratic process disappointed him. It did, he replied, because there was a glaring absence in French politics. ‘This absence is the figure of a king, who I think fundamentally the French people did not want to die.’

Macron is not the president of France, he is its king. It explains his aloofness and his disdain for the little people, which includes British prime ministers.

Macron recently raged against the French constitution because it precludes him standing for a third term; he would love to stay on his throne until the end of his days. Just like Queen Elizabeth.

But she was royalty: Macron is just a here today, gone tomorrow politician.