Violence erupted across France as protesters angered by the cost of living, education standards and Emmanuel Macron’s government took to the streets, prompting police to acknowledge that they had “lost control”.

Major French cities descended into turmoil, with town halls and prefectures set alight and hundreds of businesses looted during what officials described as “apocalyptic riots”.

Terrified residents and desperate business owners watched as groups moved from one premises to the next, smashing their way into shops and other businesses.

Amid the destruction, a distressed woman was filmed pleading with rioters not to loot a supermarket on Saturday.

Video captured the woman confronting a crowd of young men and urging them not to raid the store. Her appeal was ignored as she was pushed aside and the group entered the damaged premises.

She can be heard asking, “Why are you doing this?” and shouting, “This is not the cause.” The crowd ignored her, while some appeared to cheer as balaclava-wearing rioters emerged carrying stolen goods.

The supermarket was among numerous buildings and businesses damaged during Saturday’s demonstrations. More than 1,200 people were arrested nationwide, while around 550,000 people took part in protests across France.

In south-west France, Limoges Town Hall was engulfed in flames after being set alight by rioters. The historic building, constructed in 1883 and having survived both world wars, was left collapsing after the blaze.

A video viewed by 1.4 million people on X showed the landmark’s bell tower surrounded by fire before the historic hall gave way. The building had also played an important role in the French Resistance during the Second World War.

Although 1,200 arrests were made across France, police admitted they lacked the manpower needed to deal with the scale of the unrest.

“It was apocalyptic,” a senior commander told Le Parisien on Sunday. “Law enforcement was unable to contain the multitude of simultaneous attacks occurring across the country and was quickly overwhelmed by determined protesters.”

The source said several districts fell into “the hands of rioters”, adding that there were not enough personnel or ammunition to respond effectively.

The “apocalyptic rioting” came after weeks of escalating violence, including running battles between groups of agitators and law-enforcement officers.

In Paris, daylight exposed the extent of the damage, with streets littered with shattered glass and burned-out vehicles.

Business owners returned to find windows smashed and doors torn from their hinges, while many reported that their stock had been taken by looters.

Rioters were even able to break in and ransack municipal police premises, as the emergency services lost their grip on authority.

As blazes were started across the country and Molotov Cocktails were thrown at officers, water cannon, tear gas and baton charges were used to try and end the uprising.

President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, were accused of acting like the out-of-touch King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette at the start of the 1789 Revolution.

The Macrons attended a Céline Dion concert on Friday night, and were seen dancing in a private box.

On Sunday, Mr Macron said: ‘There’s no place for violence in our Republic. 

‘Those who have engaged in destruction, attacked government offices and businesses, and even looted our town halls, will be prosecuted and punished. 

‘We will stand united against those sowing chaos-people who seek only to tear down our institutions and who prevent others from expressing their grievances peacefully.’

Laurent Nuñez, the Minister of the Interior, highlighted the ‘significant mobilization of the far-Left movement’ within the rioters.

He said these included radical groups such as Antifa, the NPA New Anticapitalist Party, and another called Permanent Revolution.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu also singled out ‘far-Left groups’ for their part in the violence.

He said: ‘Peaceful demonstrations have a rightful place in our Republic. Arson, looting, and attacks do not.

‘Today, far-Left groups orchestrated violence in several French cities – criminals joined in to loot and destroy.’

In turn, Left-wing politicians denied stirring up any trouble, and said paramilitary police units had provoked the crowds.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of France Unbowed (LFI) said too many tear gas canisters had been fired at peaceful demonstrators.

He claimed: ‘It seems that confrontation is the very goal of this public-order strategy. It’s pathetic.’

Marine Tondelier, of the Ecologists party also called on the government to revise its approach to law and order.

She said: ‘When you fail to call on law enforcement to exercise restraint-and, in fact, implicitly encourage the opposite-you end up fueling a surge in tensions.’

Other government sources said the disorder played into the hands of Marine Le Pen, of the far-Right National Rally (RN) party.

She hopes to replace Mr Macron as President in May, when he is forced to stand down having spent two terms as head of state – the maximum allowed.

Ms Le Pen said: ‘Legitimate social grievances have once again been held hostage by the far-Left and the rhetoric of Jean-Luc Melenchon’s MPs – who, by legitimising violence and framing public order as oppression and disorder as a right, are seeking to plunge the country into chaos.’

Some of the worst violence was in the eastern city of Lyon, where a tourist office was set on fire by a violent gang.

Youths wearing face masks and hoodies also broke into City Hall in Marseille, where they vandalised a statue of Marianne, the female personification of the French Republic.

There was also fighting on the Place de la République – the Paris square – and close to the Gare du Nord Eurostar hub, where high-speed trains travel to and from London.

It was all part of a nationwide day of action against the cost of living, education and widespread inequality.

There have also been almost five weeks of protests by school and university students against France’s crumbling education system.

They have now been joined by numerous other social groups, including the infamous Yellow Vests – or Gilets Jaunes – which brought chaos to France at the start of Mr Macron’s time in office over a sharp increase in diesel taxes.

In Paris, protesters were seen lobbing baguettes at riot police, as the protests quickly descended into violence. 

A tourist office and cars were set on fire by rioters in France, who took to the streets to protest in their hundreds of thousands, including 110,000 in Paris alone.

In Bordeaux, a video circulated on social media showing the upmarket Galeries Lafayette, which had been recently renovated, being stormed by hundreds of protesters. 

In other videos, shopworkers were seen watching on helplessly as looters destroyed the aisles and appeared to fill bags with stolen goods. 

Sixty law enforcement officers were injured during the clashes in France on Saturday – two of whom were taken to hospital unconscious.

Looting was recorded in cities across France, including Paris, Rouen, Nantes, Toulouse and Marseille. 

Many rioters appeared to wield the national symbol of baguettes as weapons, with some dressed in balaclavas and wearing all black, throwing the bread at police as the clashes unravelled. 

In the southern city of Saint-Etienne, a protester had his hand blown off by a police crowd-control grenade, a police source has said. 

It is the second such incident in recent days. On October 5, a 15-year-old student lost his left hand when a stun grenade exploded outside his school in Lens during protests.

Macron had called for calm last night, asking that protesters maintain ‘respect for people and property’. 

The President will be forced to stand down in May, after completing the maximum two terms allowed for any French president.

Jordan Bardella, the head of the far-Right National Rally party – which is leading the polls ahead of next year’s presidential election – said he was unsurprised by the clashes.

‘I’m extremely concerned,’ he said. ‘It will be a ‌day of chaos for France.’

His mentor, Marine Le Pen, is hoping to replace Mr Macron as president, if she can reverse a criminal conviction for embezzling money from the European Parliament on appeal.

The protests come at a difficult time for France, as President Emmanuel Macron enters the final stretch of his presidency, leaving behind a polarised electorate and a fragmented domestic political situation. 

Investors ditching French debt, driving borrowing costs to their highest levels in more than two decades, have also underlined the country’s long struggle to get its public finances in order.

The police have also drawn criticism for their response after reports of serious injuries sustained by protesters, including one 15-year-old who had his hand blown off after picking up a police stun grenade, and a 16-year-old who was blinded by a rubber bullet.

An officer was charged with aggravated violence on Tuesday after allegedly firing the bullet at the student in Tours, France, on September 30. The family of the injured pupil have blamed the force. 

The internal police watchdog is investigating at least two dozen cases of alleged police violence. France suspended the use of stun grenades for the student demonstrations, but Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said they could be used in Saturday’s protest.

‘If there were to be clashes, all types of intermediate weapons can be used,’ he told Telematin on Friday.

Calls on social media for members of past protest movements to join the fray appear to have worked, raising questions about just how large the protests could grow. 

The Yellow Vest movement started in 2018 as a protest against taxes on diesel before morphing into an outpouring of anger at high living costs and income inequality. However, things have been largely quiet since Macron agreed to billions of euros in tax cuts.

Yannick Maillou, a teacher from La Crèche in western France, joined the Yellow Vests in 2018 and remains involved in the movement. He said there were several nearby meeting points for protesters to gather on Saturday, with unions also calling on their members to join.

‘Groups of people providing medical assistance are forming in anticipation of police violence,’ he said. 

Myrtil Devillers, another Yellow Vest protester, said he was sympathetic to the protesters’ ‘explosive catch-all of grievances’ although he won’t be protesting on Saturday as he is abroad.

‘I was a Yellow Vest protester when petrol cost €1.40 a litre, so imagine how I feel now that it’s €2.20,’ he said.

‘The justice system is complaining; the education system is complaining; the healthcare sector is complaining; my friends who run businesses are complaining.’

Elsewhere in Europe, copycat protests also took hold on the streets of Italy and Belgium. 

A rally against the cost of living took place in Milan, Italy, which saw numerous clashes with police. 

Italian police fired tear gas at Italian protesters in the square in front of Milan’s Gothic cathedral, after rioters allegedly threw stones at cops, France 24 reported. 

Protesters in Milan also gathered in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II – a luxury shopping centre. Shop owners put down their shutters and tourists appeared to flee the central area as the clashes turned violent, with the central Duomo metro station being temporarily closed. 

Several people were reported to be injured and a number of arrests were made, according to Italian media.

Meanwhile, in Brussels, demonstrators were seen standing on an overturned car during a students’ protest in Belgium, inspired by the protests in France. 

Several hundred people, mostly of a younger demographic, took to the streets of the capital on Saturday.

They also clashed with police as they protested against rising education costs and reforms which many believe could make higher education less accessible.

How, exactly, does one deal with a problem like Meghan and Harry? It is easy to imagine the question surfacing over the King’s morning Burford Browns, however unwelcome it may be. After weeks of carefully calibrated hints and manoeuvring, the couple finally emerged together in Nottingham, making their first official-but-not-quite-official appearance as a pair.

Meghan arrived in a polished palette of plum and burgundy, the unofficial colours of non-royal royalty. Her look included a £26 Marks & Spencer belt alongside £650 Jennifer Chamandi stilettos, a £345 Joseph cashmere sweater and a £1,495 Joseph cashmere coat — an ensemble designed to suggest both luxury and accessibility.

Adding another carefully judged touch of informality, she revealed a bare calf and ankle. It was a performance of relatable elegance: could anyone appear more grounded, authentic or connected to ordinary people?

Around 200 admirers gathered, although a sizeable proportion were photographers and reporters. The Duchess held her bouquet as though it had come from the luxury florist Moyses Stevens, squealed with delight, hugged supporters and posed for selfies. Smiles, applause and tilted heads followed as she mingled with a hand-picked group of angelic-looking children, while Harry watched with the expression of a devoted puppy.

The couple decorated cakes, greeted strangers as if they were old friends and waved enthusiastically to the crowd. In almost every respect, it resembled the public engagements they undertook before their “freedom flight”. The notable differences were six years of misguided behaviour, millions spent on legal fees and a considerable quantity of rather cloying jam.

Nottingham was where Harry and Meghan made their first official royal appearance together in 2017. Given their fondness for symbolism, the return was unlikely to have been accidental. Yet the choice was also curious. Wasn’t it precisely this kind of demanding public performance, carried out under the royal banner, that supposedly drove them to seek a quieter and more private life?

At the same time in Cardiff, King Charles and Queen Camilla were carrying out the ceremonial opening of the Welsh Parliament’s new term. They met community groups and attempted to avoid anti-monarchy demonstrators, yet attracted so little attention that they might almost have remained in bed.

For the King — and, by extension, Prince William — the situation must feel grimly predictable. It is the scenario they have feared since the Sussexes stunned the family by announcing their return to Britain.

Freed from protocol and apparently unconcerned with conventional restraint, Harry and Meghan have positioned themselves squarely on the King’s territory. Their aim seems clear: to become the younger, more fashionable alternative within the wider royal brand. In an age of rapidly shifting public loyalties, they may well manage it.

For many people, the Sussexes remain deeply objectionable. Their repeated actions suggest little understanding of the Crown’s constitutional role, and they appear a world away from the example set by Queen Elizabeth II, whose public life was defined by duty. Critics see them as self-interested, entitled and relentless in the pursuit of their own goals.

Paradoxically, those qualities may be what make them such a formidable challenge. In a social-media culture where influence is counted in clicks and likes, and perseverance is often undervalued, the Duke and Duchess fit neatly into a dominant narrative of grievance. Their tendency to blame others and present themselves as victims reflects the mood of the moment.

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They offer, in other words, the combination of emptiness and self-regard that can attract a large following — particularly among people who find the King’s seriousness and the senior royals’ stoicism too demanding for an age shaped by instant gratification.

A generation ago, the King’s determination to continue working despite ill health would have been regarded as evidence of courage and character. Today, in a culture increasingly hostile to sacrifice, it can be dismissed as an outdated devotion to the “stiff upper lip” — the same attitude Harry criticised in Spare, linking it to emotional repression and the psychological damage he says followed the death of his mother, Princess Diana.

The result is a striking double standard. Meghan and Harry are praised as courageous for discussing mental health, while a man in his 70s who continues to fulfil his duties every day during cancer treatment is portrayed as cold and emotionally detached. It is a dispiriting reversal of values.

The available options are limited. Harry and Meghan show no sign of adopting greater restraint or deference. They appear determined to build careers as royal-adjacent figures, taking whatever steps are needed to compete with the official family for public attention. Yet the King cannot simply punish them: whatever else one may think, they have committed no formal offence.

That is why, ultimately, I suspect the Sussexes may have to be welcomed back into the fold. Restoring their titles and status, along with the privileges that once came with them — permanent security, extensive staff, grand accommodation, balcony appearances and a financial allowance — may be the only practical way to contain their influence.

The lesson comes from Harry’s mother, Princess Diana. For the Royal Family, she was more disruptive outside the institution than within it. Sadly, I fear the same calculation may now apply to her younger son and his ambitious wife.

Zeta’s glam… like my gran

Having spent a few days on the sofa last week recovering from a small operation, I stumbled across Kill Jackie on Amazon Prime. Think Guy Ritchie meets Quentin Tarantino meets Gavin And Stacey, with Catherine Zeta-Jones as the eponymous Jackie, a reformed cocaine queenpin from Swansea on the run from a gang of assassins. It’s both bonkers and brilliant – not least because even though Zeta-Jones looks every inch the star, each time she opens her mouth she sounds exactly like my Welsh granny.

Hail Sufragettes of Smugdom

They are the ME+EM Martyrs, the Artisanal Agitators, the Suffragettes of Smugdom. Well-heeled, well-connected, secure in their lib-Left outlook, ensconced in their own VIP corner of the moral high ground. I’m talking, of course, about the Palestine Action (proscribed terror group) fangirls: Tilda Swinton, Charlotte Church, Miriam Margolyes, Sally Rooney – and now author Sarah Helm, wife of the Government’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell. Far be it from me to criticise the wife of a high-profile official for expressing a political opinion. But I seem to recall that when I dared to make a modest suggestion at the time of Brexit, I was vilified by the so-called sisterhood and branded ‘Lady Macbeth’. Whereas Ms Helm remains unchastened and has even been characterised as ‘standing up for free speech’. Where did I go wrong?

Last week, a coroner ruled that Adriana Retyte, a 14-year-old from Norfolk who took her own life in May was ‘aided by having viewed online content’ – the content being videos on suicide. Hers is not the first family to have its heart ripped out by social media, nor will it be the last. Meanwhile, we learn that Nick Clegg is set to trouser £30million from the Wall Street flotation of Nscale, a UK-based AI company. Seriously, how do these tech ghouls sleep at night?