President Macron paid effusive homage to Napoleon Bonaparte yesterday, using the bicentenary of the emperor’s death to reach out to right-wing voters who will determine his political fate. Speaking under the majestic cupola of the Institute of France in Paris, he described the emperor as a genius who had shaped the destiny of his country and conquered the world. He went on to lay a wreath at Napoleon’s tomb at Les Invalides, the military institution in Paris, at 5.49pm — the exact time he was declared dead on May 5, 1821 in exile in St Helena, a British island in the South Atlantic. SponsoredMacron’s speech followed weeks of anguished debate in France over the merits of commemorating a divisive figure hailed by the right as

Source: The Times May 05, 2021 23:04 UTC