FRENCH president Emmanuel Macron's office spent approximately £744,000 on two banquets for King Charles and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, according to the country's top auditors.
The Cour des Comptes (Court of Accounts), which oversees state budgets, urged the Élysée Palace to tighten its spending and better control its expenses.
The Versailles banquet for King Charles, which cost approximately £399,160, featured an opulent menu. Guests dined on lobster and crab, French poultry marinated in champagne, and a gratin of wild mushrooms.
The meal included vintage wines and champagnes, with dessert featuring a French macaron with lychee and rose sorbet, and raspberry compote, reported The Guardian. The course of cheeses included French Comté and British Stichelton blue.
Over £138,660 was allocated to catering, with an additional £33,613 spent on drinks, reported the BBC. Notable guests at the banquet included football manager Arsène Wenger, Rolling Stone's Mick Jagger, and actor Hugh Grant.
The banquet for Modi, which cost slightly less at approximately £345,290, offered a fully vegetarian menu created by chef Romain Meder. It included a variety of salads such as oak leaf, frisée, and romaine with herbs and radishes, and a sorbet made from radish tops and tagetes.
Starters featured chickpea hummus with lightly cooked zucchini, blackcurrants, and fresh lemon seasoning, garnished with pickled blackcurrant leaves and Sichuan pepper. Main courses included oven-roasted carrots with fresh carrot juice, served with a heart of lettuce, aromatic herbs, and carrot "Bolognese," accompanied by nasturtium oil and leaves.
Desserts consisted of poached rhubarb on a rhubarb tart condiment, pelargonium sorbet, rhubarb granita, and rhubarb cooking juice, with additional raw rhubarb shavings. Mignardises included peaches infused with fir wine, chocolate with cocoa nibs, juniper berry powder, Espelette pepper, fleur de sel, and a sugar-free fruit paste.
The event, held at the Louvre Museum on July 14, French National Day, was attended by Global CEO of Channel Leena Nair, actor R Madhavan, and Grammy-winner Ricky Kej.
The auditors remarked that with the kitchens of Macron's official residence, the Élysée Palace, being renovated, his office had to turn to outside caterers for the Versailles and Louvre banquets.
While they commended the Élysée for being "proactive" in its efforts to trim costs, the Cour des Comptes report on Monday urged "greater efforts to anticipate events... and to control spending on travel and entertaining."
The French presidency acknowledged the auditors' remarks, stating that it had taken their comments into account. "France keeps up a high level of diplomatic relations with numerous countries and organises reciprocal events when it welcomes heads of state," the Élysée said.
(With inputs from AFP)
The circular structure inspired by jali screens in India
Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, at the garden
The couple display their medals