THE rose garden of the Elysée Palace was the venue yesterday of what was likely to be the final show of a popular but ageing double act.

Like Eric and Ernie or the two Ronnies, Jacques and Tony fed each other gags and catchphrases, but the ninth summit between the French and British leaders offered little of the sizzle of their heyday.

President Chirac and Mr Blair were too busy being nice to create the sparks that fans remember from their earlier hits. Top among these was the Brussels Bust-Up of 2002, when Jacques, in paternal form, brought the house down by calling young Tony “badly brought up”. There was the 2003 Showdown Over Iraq, when Jacques asked Tony: “How will you be able to look [son] Leo in the face in 20 years’ time if you are the one who unleashes this war?” Yesterday Cher Jacques and My Friend Tony displayed their accord in front of their ministers, staff and reporters.

“I am more and more sure that the future of France and Britain is a future in which our destinies are inextricably linked together,” Mr Blair said. “Myself and the President had agreed on a lot,” he added. “We share a passion for Africa.”

Mr Blair’s grace was commendable, as he had just listened to a 20-minute monologue on the international horizon that they had toured together in the rose bower.

Throughout, a smiling Mr Blair kept his focus on the President. After a past in which France and England had settled their quarrels on the battlefield, M Chirac said, “we are fortunately now in a profound period of solidarité, accord et entente”.

The EU’s odd couple, who have been appearing at almost all annual summits since 1997, will continue to meet but either one or both will be retired by the next Franco-British show, in the autumn of 2007. M Chirac, 73, unpopular and in fragile health, leaves office next May. Mr Blair, 53, unpopular and apparently robust, may by then have brought down the curtain on his long farewell.

“Tony has this odd liking for Chirac,” a Downing Street aide once said. “It’s an S&M thing.”

The Prime Minister keeps a photograph of M Chirac with Leo in his 10 Downing Street office. A French official who attends their talks said last week: “Chirac genuinely likes Blair.”