Sir Keir Starmer has become the first serving UK prime minister to be awarded France’s top honour, the Legion d’honneur.
He received the award at the end of a meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing – the group of countries Sir Keir and French President Emmanuel Macron helped set up to help Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of 2022.
In his tribute, Macron praised Sir Keir’s “decency” and expressed his gratitude for the “commitments for obviously your country, but the security of Europe, Ukraine, the bilateral relationship”.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky was among those to pay tribute to the outgoing prime minister who is due to leave his post next week.
Presenting Sir Keir with the award, Macron said: “I wanted to reiterate my gratitude and the gratitude of the French people, obviously for your years as prime minister.
“I have to say, all the human qualities that we learn to appreciate, all those remain very important to all of us. We found with you a very reliable and friendly partner.”
In addition to Zelensky, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also thanked Sir Keir at the event in the French presidential palace.
Every year, about 2,000 French people and 200 foreign nationals are awarded the Order of the Legion of Honour in recognition of “outstanding merits”.
Sir Winston Churchill is among those honoured – having received the highest rank of the order known as Grand Croix (Grand Cross), which is given to those who have continued to render “outstanding merit” over a period of time.
However, the award has been controversial since being established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802.
Apart from the likes of Nelson Mandela and former US President Dwight Eisenhower, and indeed, Zelensky himself, the honour has also gone to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi – and earlier to Benito Mussolini of wartime Italy and Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.
So far, only one foreign leader has been stripped of the honour, former Panamian President Manuel Norriega.
Under Macron, Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has also seen the decoration withdrawn after a series of accusations of sexual harassment and rape.