Paris metro station honors Queen Elizabeth II during funeral
Commuters walk past a sign in the Parisian underground metro station “George V” which is temporarily replaced with a placard reading “Elizabeth II 1926-2022”, in the Parisian Metro station George V, in Paris, on September 19, 2022. AFP
PARIS — A Paris metro station on the Champs-Elysees has been renamed Elizabeth II for the day as a tribute to the British queen during her funeral.
Signs in the George V metro station — named after the queen’s grandfather — were replaced on Monday as a mark of respect for the British sovereign, who will be buried later after a service in London.
“We wanted to join in the day of mourning by putting up the sign ‘Elizabeth II 1926-2022’ in the George V station on Line 1,” a spokeswoman for the Paris metro operator RATP told AFP.
The station will revert to being called George V on Tuesday.
French flags have been ordered to fly at half mast on public buildings by the prime minister but a small number of mayors are resisting the instruction.
Patrick Proisy, the left-wing mayor of Faches-Thumesnil, northeastern France, said he would refuse to lower the flag on public buildings in his village.
Although he expressed his condolences after the queen’s death, he said such a move contradicted France’s republican principles of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”.
“No concept is further from ‘equality’ than the monarchy,” he wrote on social media on September 10.
RELATED STORIES
Biden pays respects to Queen Elizabeth before funeral
‘We Remember’: Artists around the world pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II
Sporting events canceled, tributes paid after Queen Elizabeth dies
