Ambassador floors French rival with Waterloo retort

THE British ambassador to the United States emerged victorious from a social media skirmish after slapping down his French counterpart with a reference to the Battle of Waterloo.

Sir Kim Darroch’s contretemps with Gérard Araud, the French ambassador, began after Sir Kim hosted a history symposium at the White House.

“From Scottish stonemasons to English architects, the UK played an invaluable role in the design of this iconic building, and the diplomacy within it,” Sir Kim wrote on Twitter.

In an unsolicited response Mr Araud wrote: “And in the burning of it in 1815 .... ” He appeared to be referring to the White House conflagration carried out by the British, which actually happened a year earlier in August 1814.

Sir Kim retorted: “Gerard, unusually, your history is a little inaccurate. It was 1814. Something else happened in 1815.”

Another Twitter user wrote: “And Britain with the BURN. #waterloo.”

Mr Araud proceeded to claim French credit for the White House design, denying that it was based on Leinster House in Ireland. He wrote: “The design is based on the French chateau of Rastignac ... uncannily similar .... ”

The spat came a week after Emmanuel Macron, the French president, made a joke about the White House fire. At a state dinner in Washington he opened a toast to Donald Trump by saying: “This White House, full of history, that the British burned down in 1815 .... ”