Elizabeth II had put Toulouse in her pocket on April 7, 2004. The Queen of England, who died on Thursday September 8 at the age of 96, arrived dressed in a purple suit, in homage to the violet of Toulouse. She had also received a bouquet of flowers on her arrival at Place du Capitole.
During this half-day Toulouse, at the heart of the State visit of April 2004, Elizabeth II was accompanied by Philippe Douste-Blazy. The former mayor of Toulouse had entered the government as Minister of Health. He remembers that particular day.
What memories do you have of that day?
In 2004, we had the great honor of hosting Queen Elizabeth. I was both Minister of Health and Mayor of Toulouse. And it was a state visit! A state visit is when a monarch or head of state spends more than two days in a country. And the Queen of England had decided to come to Toulouse.
I picked up at Blagnac airport, with Bernadette Chirac. And then as we arrived at Place du Capitole, I saw an increasingly large mass of people. At the Capitol, there was a crowd.
I vividly remember a little girl wanting to shake hands with the Queen who, by definition, can’t touch someone. And the queen, on the contrary, went to her, shook her hand, took her against her.
On this place, there were hundreds of people, it was an extraordinary moment. Then over a lunch set, and we talked a lot together.
She was dressed in purple from head to toe. A nod to the Toulouse violet
What did you tell yourself? She had time to see Toulouse and the pink brick?
Of course. We showed him. We explained to him. First, I was extremely touched because when she arrived at the airport, the door of the Airbus A319 opened, and she was dressed in purple! Violet from head to toe. So it was a nod to the Toulouse violet.
And then she told me about Airbus because of course, it’s something that binds our two countries above all. She speaks perfect French. We just had a little disagreement… It was when we talked about rugby, with Prince Philippe (her husband). I explained to him that Stade Toulousain was still better than the British! It made him laugh a lot, but Prince Philippe a lot less (laughs).
I told him that Stade Toulousain was better than the British
Was it a real pride of reception in Toulouse?
Yes, because it represents the second part of the XXᵉ century and the first part of the XXIᵉ. She was an exceptional woman, a woman who went through crises, who always had a sense of duty and who showed by her example what a monarch is, what a monarch should be.