Wednesday, 9 September 2026
The Theme Park at the Heart of France’s Culture War
France
dispatch
The
Theme Park at the Heart of France’s Culture War
The Puy
du Fou is one of France’s most visited theme parks. Its founder says it gives
the French a “founding narrative,” but critics say it peddles “far-right
propaganda.”
By Catherine Porter and Giulia Imbert
Visuals
by William Daniels
Reporting
from Puy du Fou theme park in Les Epesses, France
Sept. 9,
2026Updated 1:07 a.m. ET
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/09/world/europe/theme-park-france-right-culture-war.html
In a
historical theme park set among the wheat fields of rural western France,
Viking boats and pianos emerge from ponds, and knights ride on horseback. Now
France’s most popular theme park after Disneyland’s sites near Paris, it has
opened an
outpost in Spain and aims to build one in England soon.
But many
in France hate the park, called the Puy du Fou.
Critics
have called it a peddler of “far-right propaganda,” an accusation that has
gained in resonance as ultraconservatives
edge closer to power for the first time since World War II. The
critics accuse it of weaponizing history to popularize the values of its
founder, Philippe de Villiers, a former lawmaker who supports far-right
politicians and has long campaigned against the European Union, Islam, gay
marriage and immigration.
He
recently wrote that the park is part of a larger “cultural battle” for the
country’s soul, and that “cultural victories precede political victories.” But
his son Nicolas, who has run the park since 2012, said his only ambition is “to
create shows that make people love France,” adding, “For me, that is my only
cultural battle.”
The park
is four hours southwest of Paris by car. With thousands of trees, growing amid
man-made rivers and ponds, the Puy du Fou feels more like a national park than
an amusement park. There are no carnival rides and few vendors. Instead, dirt
paths lead visitors to immersive sets as well as performances, mostly about
French history, that unfold in large outdoor arenas and indoor theaters, and
usually last around half an hour.
The map
locates Les Epesses, France, southwest of Paris, and home to the Puy du Fou
theme park.
50 mileS
English
Channel
Paris
A11
France
Loire
E3
Detail
area
Les
Epesses/
PUY DU
FOU
France
The New
York Times
The draw,
for most, is not just the mythic French stories, but the spectacular special
effects and the animals.
In a show
about the Romans, charioteers race teams of festooned horses around an Egyptian
obelisk that later splits into a giant galley boat. In another show, more than
300 live birds, including vultures and bald eagles, wheel over spectators’
heads.
“The
mechanical engineering is incredible,” said Arido Agrifoglio, 69, a retired
doctor from Switzerland, lining up with his wife, Sylvie, for their ninth show
of the day. The night before they’d watched a performance in which
dancers, a pianist and a piano rose out of a pond.
“I often
wonder, ‘How did they do that?’” Mr. Agrifoglio said.
Image
Actors
dressed as Romans hyping the crowd before a show at Puy du Fou.
Video
The
Roman-themed performance includes circus games and chariot racing.
Before
the 250-acre park existed, Philippe de Villiers launched a single show in 1978
beside a ruined castle called Puy du Fou, which he has said is Old French and
Latin for “hill of beech trees.”
Then a
student at the country’s elite university for civil servants, Philippe de
Villiers wrote the script for a performance about the region’s bloody
experience during the French Revolution, when locals took up arms against the
new government and were massacred. Since Philippe de Villiers couldn’t afford
to pay actors or stagehands, community members volunteered. The show, called
the Cinéscénie, has since expanded, and is still run by thousands of volunteers
in summer.
Philippe
de Villiers went on to become the country’s secretary of state for culture, and
an elected lawmaker. In 1989, after a trip to the Walt Disney World Resort in
Orlando, Fla., he saw the business potential. He created a new park next to the
Cinéscénie, staffed by professionals. He set about writing the scripts for new
shows that would offer the country what he called its “founding narrative.”
“We must
give the French back their past,” he wrote in his 2025 book “Populicide,” which
said immigration was causing civilizational collapse in France, where the book
was a bestseller.
Today,
the park has around 3,000 workers staffing in around 20 shows, five
history-themed hotels and 26 restaurants. The company earned roughly $350
million in 2025 with a record-breaking three million visitors, Nicolas de
Villiers said. In 2021, he opened a park in Toledo, Spain, that focuses on
Spanish history, and in 2025, he applied to open a British version near Oxford.
(Projects planned in Russia, Russian-occupied
Crimea and the United States never came to fruition.)
Image
Nicolas
de Villiers, center, the president of Puy de Fou and son of the park’s founder,
speaking with technicians during a performance.
Video
La
Cinéscénie was the show that inspired Puy de Fou, and is now accessed via a
separate entrance.
With its
mounting success, the park has come under intense criticism from left-wing
politicians and historians, who have for years pointed out inaccuracies in its
shows, and accused it of warping history for political reasons. That criticism
was amplified in 2022, when four historians published a scathing book called
“Le Puy du Faux,” or The Puy of Falsehood, that calls the park “ideological,”
where visitors will “learn nothing.”
“It’s the
erasure of the French Revolution and the praise of Christianity. That right
there is the Puy du Fou recipe,” said Florian Besson, one of the authors and a
medieval historian.
Many of
the shows center on Catholicism. The marauding Vikings set on attacking a
Christian village are stopped by a ghostly saint and swiftly converted. The
Romans are portrayed as cruel pagan overlords who — until they, too, converted
— persecuted the Christian Gauls.
“It’s a
complete reversal of history: Christianity came to Gaul from Rome, yet there it
is presented exactly the opposite way,” said Pauline Ducret, another historian
and co-author of the book.
The park
presents an “eternal France” that is under attack, Ms. Ducret said, if not by
Vikings, then by a revolutionary army or Germans — an echo of Mr. de Villiers’
anti-immigration views.
Video
A scene
depicting the baptism of Clovis, a king who ruled much of what would become
France, after the collapse of the Roman Empire.
Image
A
portrait of Joan of Arc in a Renaissance-themed chateau at the park.
Then
there are the choices of which parts of French history to present. There is
nothing, critics point out, that touches on France’s darkest moments: slavery,
colonialism, or Vichy — the government during World War II that collaborated
with the Nazis.
Philippe
de Villiers did not respond to interview requests. But his son Nicolas, 46,
spoke to us twice, once in a room above a restaurant in the park where waiters
sing French folk songs. He said that prescribing political aims to the park was
“ridiculous.”
“Are
Vikings right wing or left wing? Were Romans right wing or left wing?” he said.
“That question is completely out of step with the shows we present.”
But he
does see the park as helping to build the country’s collective memory. “If we
want as a people in France to have a common destiny,” he said, “we need common
memories.” And he made no apologies for omitting certain historical chapters.
“We
always prefer glory against shame,” he said.
Nicolas
de Villiers said he believed the recent deluge of criticism about the park was
motivated by jealousy, particularly from the left-wing elite that he said
controls the theater scene in Paris.
François
Ruffin, a left-wing presidential candidate, offered another theory. The
scrutiny, Mr. Ruffin said, rose with the fortunes of the far-right National
Rally party, whose leader, Marine Le Pen, has a strong chance of winning the
presidency next year.
When
Philippe de Villiers built Puy du Fou, it was “a pocket of resistance, keeping
the flame of neoconservatism alive,” Mr. Ruffin said in an interview. “Today
they have become dominant, the majority, and potentially poised to take power
next year,” Mr. Ruffin added.
The Puy
du Fou is just one part of a mounting right-wing cultural constellation, he
said, driven by the French billionaire Vincent Bolloré, whose holdings include
publishers, film companies and a right-wing television channel, CNews,
on which Philippe de Villiers has a Friday night show.
That
constellation is now winning France’s “culture war,” said Mr. Ruffin.
Image
A
performance featuring a viking raid on a medieval village.
Image
Visitors
resting in front of reproductions of World War I propaganda posters.
He has
called for the creation of a left-wing Puy du Fou that would mount shows on the
French Revolution, and the French resistance during World War II.
On a
recent sweltering day, families raced from one show to the next.
Some said
they liked the park’s historical message. Critics only “hate it because it’s
French,” said Laurent Smirnow, 53, a security guard.
But many
said they had come for the entertainment, not the history lessons or the
politics.
Valérie
Billet, 57, took a break under a tree with her in-laws and adult children.
Her
sister refused to come to the park because of Mr. de Villiers’ politics, she
said.
“When I
come here, I detach the park from the man who created it,” said Ms. Billet, an
English teacher. Sitting nearby, her daughter Nolwenn, 28, muttered under her
breath that the park’s biases were hard to ignore. “It’s something you can
definitely feel,” the daughter said.
Still,
she’d been back with her family four times.
Image
A
carousel in a model village inspired by the Belle Époque.
Catherine Porter is
an international reporter for The Times, covering France. She is based in
Paris.
Tuesday, 8 September 2026
Harry and Meghan ‘surprised’ at king’s letter reiterating they are non-working royals
.jpeg)
Harry and
Meghan ‘surprised’ at king’s letter reiterating they are non-working royals
Duke and
Duchess of Sussex were apparently given little notice before message was sent
to the media
Tue 8 Sep
2026 13.28 CEST
The Duke
and Duchess of Sussex were “surprised” at being given little notice of a formal
letter sent to government departments and the military on behalf of King
Charles reiterating their status as non-working royals.
Harry and
Meghan, who
returned to the UK from the US two weeks ago, had insufficient time to
clarify any points before details were issued to the media, it is understood.
The
letter, the first official public clarification of the couple’s status since
their return, was issued by Buckingham Palace’s most senior officer, the lord
chamberlain, Richard Benyon.
It was
revealed to the media at 3.06pm on Monday. It is understood the contents were
shared with Harry and Meghan’s team almost an hour before at 1.59pm, who sent a
response back to Buckingham Palace at 2.19pm asking whether the guidance had
already gone out, in the hope of letting the couple know before the media, and
for the team to have the chance to clarify one or two points.
Harry was
in a meeting and could not be contacted until 3.09pm. The Sussexes’ team
received confirmation at 3.11pm it had already been sent to the media.
The
letter was revealed before a reported meeting this week of the executive
committee for the protection of royalty and public figures (Ravec), which is
responsible for making decisions about royal security.
Harry is
waiting to hear the conclusion of the risk management board’s threat assessment
and Ravec is expected to decide at the meeting whether the Sussexes are
entitled to taxpayer-funded security now they live in the UK. The Home Office
does not comment on such decision making and would be unlikely to reveal the
outcome of such a meeting.
Lord
Benyon’s letter reiterates the couple’s “current” status as non-working royals.
“This position, distinct from the state and royal duties undertaken by the
working royal family, and with the personal latitude it brings the couple in
respect of financial independence and protection of their privacy as they would
wish, will continue to be fully respected.
“Their
styles as His and Her Royal Highness remain in abeyance and are not used.
It says
their charitable work “is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in
their private capacity”.
“In
short, their position is akin to private citizens with commercial and
charitable interests.”
The
letter says questions from official and state organisations about the
courtesies extended to the couple, “and particularly where recourse to public
funds may be required”, should be directed to Buckingham Palace, adding: “Any
operational security issues should continue to be directed to the relevant
police authorities.”
The
couple’s children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, are expected to be
starting school in the UK near to the family’s reported countryside retreat.
The
palace’s clarification came on the day Harry was revealed to have visited Tower
Bridge Studios, a London filming and podcast studio, where shows such as the
podcasts Diary of a CEO and Jimmy Carr’s The Big Pitch are recorded.
Prince George arrives at Eton College with William and Kate to begin first term
Prince
George has arrived at Eton College accompanied by the Prince and Princess of
Wales to begin his first term as a boarder.
Royal
correspondent Laura Bundock notes that choosing the elite school was not a
given despite family tradition, following a search of several others.
On September 7, 2026, King Charles III authorized an official letter reaffirming that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle remain non-working members of the royal family following their recent move back to the United Kingdom.
King Charles
writes a letter considering Harry and Meghan status
On September
7, 2026, King Charles III authorized an official letter reaffirming
that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle remain non-working members of the royal
family following their recent move back to the United Kingdom.
Sent by
the Lord Chamberlain—the highest-ranking official in the royal
household—the letter provides clear guidelines to government officials, the
military, and the Duke and Duchess's team to "avoid doubt or
confusion" regarding their status.
Key
Directives in the Letter
- Private Citizens: The letter states their
position is "akin to private citizens" with commercial and
charitable interests.
- No Official Duties: They cannot carry out
representative state duties on behalf of the Sovereign.
- Title Restrictions: The couple continues to be
barred from using their "His and Her Royal Highness" (HRH)
titles.
- Private Charity Work: Any philanthropic projects
they undertake must be handled in a purely personal capacity, preventing
them from establishing a parallel, unofficial royal court.
- Security Matters: The letter emphasizes that
operational security decisions remain strictly the responsibility of
relevant police agencies, offering no taxpayer-funded police protection.
Context
of the Decision
The letter
comes just 12 days after Harry, Meghan, and their children (Archie, 7, and
Lilibet, 5) returned to the UK from California for an extended stay. Palace
observers note that the formal communication was necessary to establish hard
boundaries and prevent the couple from using state-affiliated organizations for
private work
Monday, 7 September 2026
ANIKI-BÓBÓ Trailer | TIFF 2025
 |
My firstborn
daughter Fleur as a child
THE FILM ANIKI -BÓBÓ
Aniki-Bóbó
https://miff.com.au/program/film/aniki-bobo
Dir. Manoel de Oliveira / 1942 / 72 mins / Portugal /
Portuguese / Drama / Australian Premiere
Program Strand/s:
Restorations
The feature debut of Portuguese master Manoel de
Oliveira returns to the screen, beautifully restored, as a charming,
proto-neorealist revelation.
Young Carlitos’s heart beats a little faster for
Terezinha; so does Eduardo’s. Terezinha, for her part, has eyes mainly for a
doll in the window display of a shop, the latter of which has the tantalising
and lightly ominous name Temptations. Hoping to win his crush’s admiration,
Carlitos swipes the doll for her – and, in doing so, introduces a new tension
and moral murkiness into the lives of this gang of Porto urchins.
Working from a short story by José Joaquim Rodrigues
de Freitas, Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira (The Strange Case of
Angelica, MIFF 2010) anticipated the eruption of neorealism in Italy several
years later by choosing to use nonprofessional actors and shoot on location in
his home city. But while its greatness is now recognised, Aniki-Bóbó was
largely dismissed in its day, and de Oliveira – the only filmmaker whose career
stretched from the silent to the digital era, and one who remarkably continued
directing beyond his 100th birthday – would not make another feature-length
film for 21 years. In its spareness, the auteur’s first fiction film is an
edifying counterpoint to his later, lavishly stylised works, and enchanting in
its own right.
“Embodies a poetic sensibility … Staggeringly simple
in conception, it’s an immaculate piece of filmmaking and just one of many
wonders that Manoel de Oliveira brought to cinema in his many years of
indefatigable creation.” – The Film Experience
Sunday, 6 September 2026
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
