France's Ambassador Reads de Gaulle's 1940 BBC Appeal in Monaco
By Zak Jackson, MonacoViews Editorial
A formal commemoration in the Principality marked the 86th anniversary of de Gaulle's historic BBC broadcast, with France's Ambassador expressing enduring gratitude to Britain.
On Thursday 18 June 2026, France's Ambassador to Monaco read aloud the full text of General de Gaulle's address, originally broadcast on BBC Radio on 18 June 1940, during a ceremony held in the Principality to mark the 86th anniversary of the appeal.
The reading was framed as an expression of what the Ambassador described as France's eternal gratitude to Great Britain, the country that gave de Gaulle a platform at the BBC when France had fallen under German occupation. The gesture underlines the enduring diplomatic and historical ties between France, the United Kingdom and the small states, including Monaco, that sit within France's orbit.
The commemoration joins a series of official events held across French territory and diplomatic missions each year on 18 June, a date that holds the status of a national day of remembrance in France. For Monaco residents, many of whom hold French nationality or carry close personal connections to France's wartime history, the ceremony served as a local focal point for a moment of reflection shared across the wider Francophone world.