PARIS – King Charles’ visit to France was postponed Friday as protests over pensions reform continue to rock the country.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he suggested postponing the trip during a phone call with Charles on Friday, in a move that made “common sense” given the unrest in France.

“It would have been hateful… to have attempted to maintain the trip with the risk of incidents,” he told reporters during a press conference in Brussels. The visit was to be Charles’ first overseas visit as U.K. monarch.

France has faced social unrest and outbursts of violence since Macron last week forced through a deeply unpopular pensions reform, using a controversial constitutional maneuver to bypass a vote in parliament. On Thursday, a day of nationwide protests descended into chaos, with running battles between police and protesters and fires lit in Paris. More than 450 people were arrested overnight following hours of violence in which 400 police officers were injured.

Trade unions have announced a new day of protests for Tuesday, a move that raised fresh fears of disruption to Charles’ itinerary in France.

“The decision was taken to welcome his majesty King Charles III in the conditions that correspond to our friendship,” said a statement released by the Elysée. 

A U.K. government spokesperson said: “The King and Queen Consort’s State Visit to France has been postponed. This decision was taken with the consent of all parties, after the President of France asked the British Government to postpone the visit.”

In France, opposition parties welcomed the move to postpone after accusing Macron of ignoring the dissatisfaction expressed in the street.

“The reunion of the kings in Versailles has been disrupted by the popular disproval,” tweeted far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon. “The British know [interior minister] Darmanin is rubbish at guaranteeing security.”

While the cancellation means Macron ducks the possibility of a diplomatic incident with the British, it has also been seen as an admission of a deepening political crisis in France.

On Friday, the French president pushed back against accusations he was no longer able to govern the country.

“I really don’t think that’s the case. The pensions reforms continues its democratic process. Parliament is still functioning. We continue to move forward, we cannot grind to a halt,” he said.

Mountains of trash and no red carpet

Charles and the Queen Consort Camilla were expected to arrive on Sunday for a highly-symbolic three-day trip aimed at sealing the renewed friendship between France and the U.K. It was planned after the recent U.K.-France summit in Paris, where Rishi Sunak and Macron had talked up “a moment of reunion,” and scheduled just weeks after a deal on post-Brexit trade eased relations between the two countries.

The French have been pulling out all the stops to welcome the new king in style. A gala dinner at Versailles Palace and a parade with 140 horse-mounted republican guards down the Champs-Elysées were among some of items on the agenda. Charles was due to spend time in Paris and Bordeaux, before setting off for Germany. The German leg of the visit is still expected to go ahead.

But in the last week, protests against Macron’s reform, which raises the legal age of retirement to 64 from 62, have spiraled into violent outbursts in several cities. Both French and British figures voiced anxiety in recent days that Charles’ first overseas visit would be disrupted or overshadowed.

Concerns ahead of Charles’ arrival ranged from the trivial to the more significant. Paris has been struck by waste collectors’ strikes, leading to mountains of trash accumulating on the streets — an unlikely setting for a visiting king. Striking workers in the French administration also briefly threatened to refuse to roll out the red carpet for the British monarch.

There were also concerns protesters would try and directly disrupt Charles’ itinerary.

“Charles III, we will welcome him with a good old general strike,” the spokesperson of the far-left party NPA had warned.

With accusations of despotism swirling round Macron, fueled by the left-wing NUPES coalition, the pomp and ceremony surrounding the state visit was also seen as sending out the wrong signals for the French president.

On Friday Macron vowed that a new date would be set for the early summer.