“Notre Dame Reopening Ceremony Welcomed by Diverse Array of Dignitaries”

Donald Trump has been welcomed by President Emmanuel Macron as he arrived for the re-opening ceremony of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. 

The pair were pictured embracing and shaking hands in what is the president-elect’s first international trip since his landslide victory last month. 

Macron first greeted Trump at The Elysee Presidential Palace before they headed down to Notre Dame for the historic ceremony – where guests have already started filing inside.

Prince William is also expected to meet Trump in Paris to discuss the US and UK’s ‘special relationship’ on Saturday as he also joins world leaders for the ceremony.

William is travelling to France by request of the Government for the event celebrating the £600m restoration of the landmark cathedral following a devastating fire in 2019.

While in Paris, he will hold meetings with both Trump and America’s first lady Jill Biden who will also be in attendance, Kensington Palace has said.

More than 20 French government security agents have been helping ensure Trump’s safety alongside the Secret Service, according to French national police. A special French police van was providing anti-drone protection for Trump’s convoy.

Security was tighter than usual outside the US Embassy and other sites around Paris for the Notre Dame reopening, where dozens of international VIPs were expected.

 Macron, who has had an up-and-down relationship with Trump, has made a point of cultivating a relationship with the President-elect since he defeated Kamala Harris in the US election last month.

But his office nonetheless played down the significance of the invitation, saying that other politicians who do not currently hold office had been invited as well.

The iconic cathedral is formally reopening its doors today following an ambitious five-year project to restore a monument that took nearly two centuries to build.

World leaders, dignitaries, and worshippers will gather this evening to mark the occasion, led by Archbishop Laurent Ulrich.

Due to poor weather, the entire opening ceremony for 1,500 guests will be held inside the cathedral itself, the French presidential palace and Paris diocese said.

By Saturday morning, organisers said 50mph gusts of wind and heavy downpours would disrupt the evening ceremony. 

Notre Dame’s rector, Rev. Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, says the cathedral is ‘more than just a French monument’ and a beloved treasure of world’s cultural heritage.

‘The cathedral is a magnificent symbol of unity,’ the rector said. ‘A sign of hope, because what seemed impossible has become possible.’

Saturday’s events will blend solemn religious tradition with cultural grandeur, starting with Ulrich symbolically reopening Notre Dame’s grand wooden doors.

Tapping them three times with a staff crafted from charred wood salvaged from the cathedral’s fire-ravaged roof, he will declare the cathedral open for worship once more.

Psalms, prayers, and hymns will fill the cavernous space as the cathedral’s thunderous organ, silenced since the fire, is reawakened. 

The 8,000-pipe instrument, painstakingly restored and cleaned of toxic lead dust, will respond to the archbishop’s invocation, with four organists performing an improvised interplay of melodies.

Later in the evening, a star-studded concert will take center stage inside the cathedral and pay tribute to its resurrection and to those who labored to restore it, offering a universal message of harmony. 

Pianist Lang Lang, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and soprano Pretty Yende are among the world-famous artists slated to perform.

A spectacular outside concert possibly featuring ‘surprise superstars’ like Paul McCartney and Pharrell Williams was pulled due to the poor weather, however.

Instead, recordings completed inside the Cathedral on Friday night will be shown.

Like the Olympics, images from the Notre Dame ceremony will be beamed to millions of people watching all over the world. 

On Sunday, Ulrich will lead the inaugural Mass and consecrate the cathedral’s new altar, designed by contemporary artist Guillaume Bardet to replace the one crushed beneath the flaming spire in the blaze.

Ulrich will knock on main front door of Notre Dame with a wooden staff at 8.15pm.

Psalm 121 will then be sung three times inside the Cathedral, and then the doors of the Cathedral will swing open.

Another Mass will take place on Sunday evening, when 2,500 people are expected.

All tickets went within 25 minutes of being offered to Catholics online. 

Nearly 170 bishops from France and abroad will attend, alongside priests from all 113 parishes of the Paris diocese.

Buckingham Palace confirmed that William was attending ‘on behalf of the United Kingdom’, and that he ‘will meet the First Lady of the United States, Jill Biden, and the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump.’

It was not clear whether Ms Biden would spend anytime with Mr Trump, who arrived at Paris Orly airport just after dawn on Saturday morning, and then travelled to the U.S. Embassy in a 30-car convoy.

American security agents flooded the area around it, and they were supported by their French counterparts.

 Paris police prefect Laurence Nuñez said 6000 police and gendarmes were on the streets,.

These included members of the SAS-style GIGN, the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group, who will provide everything from rooftop snipers to helicopter-borne rapid intervention teams.

Mobile weapons systems in the area include Crotale New Generation short-range air defence units.

Groups such as Al-Qaeda and Isis, who have brought terror to the streets of Paris over the past decade, have threatened the Notre Dame opening, meaning ‘the terrorist threat is at its highest,’ said Mr Nunez.

The reopening of Notre Dame comes at a time of profound global unrest, with wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East.

For Catholics, Notre Dame’s rector said the cathedral ‘carries the enveloping presence of the Virgin Mary, a maternal and embracing presence.’

‘It is a magnificent symbol of unity, a sign of hope,’ Dumas said.

The range of dignitaries coming to Paris from Africa to the Mideast and the U.S. underline the cathedral’s significance as a symbol of shared heritage and peace.

The celebration is expected to give a much-needed boost to embattled Macron, whose prime minister resigned this week, plunging the nation’s political scene into more turmoil.

The French president, who has called Notre Dame’s reopening ‘a jolt of hope,’ will address the gathering. He had hoped the occasion would briefly silence his critics and showcase France’s unity and resilience under his leadership.

The ambitious five-year restoration timeline, announced just a day after the 2019 fire, had seemed improbable to many.

Macron’s presidency faces its gravest crisis after the government’s collapse this week in a historic no-confidence vote that toppled Prime Minister Michel Barnier.

The vote followed months of political gridlock after snap elections. Calls are now growing louder from opposition forces for Macron to resign. 

But he vowed in an address to the nation on Thursday to remain in office until the end of his term in 2027, and said he’ll name a new prime minister within days.

As France struggles with economic woes and mounting social unrest, Notre Dame’s rebirth celebrations form a stark contrast to the crisis.

Security will be tight all through the weekend, echoing measures taken during the Paris Olympics earlier this year.

The Île de la Cité – the small island in the River Seine that is home to Notre Dame – will be closed to tourists and non-residents, with access restricted to invitees and those who live on the island.

Public viewing areas along the Seine’s southern bank will accommodate 40,000 spectators, who can follow the celebrations on large screens.

The archbishop’s reopening of the cathedral doors will be followed by a liturgical service and the reawakening of the grand organ, ending with the celebratory concert that will honor Notre Dame’s cultural and spiritual significance.

For many, Notre Dame’s rebirth is not just a French achievement but a global one – after the reopening, the cathedral is set to welcome 15 million visitors annually, up from 12 million before the fire.

Following the 2019 fire, nearly $1 billion in donations quickly poured in from around the world, testifying to Notre Dame’s universal appeal.