The Macrons in Switzerland: a couple on a state visit

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The woman is self-ironic: “He has to win these elections! Imagine my face in 2027!” Then her husband’s second term would be over and she would be 74 years old.

With this sentence in the middle of the 2022 election campaign, Brigitte Macron disarmed the scoffers and envious people who kept referring to her age.

Emmanuel Macron remained President of the Grande Nation, she is now 70 years old, her husband is 45, and for two days the two will add glamor and great emotions to the official state visit to Switzerland.

“I’m Just His Wife”

The French are proud of the extraordinary and progressive couple.

At the Première Dame they love the humor, the laughter, the open face, the friendliness. She herself does not like the expression Première Dame: “Emmanuel was chosen, not me! I’m just his wife.”

Many see it differently and claim that the older lady at her side gives the younger one the necessary maturity and that she has a say.

“It’s a couple that has merged,” says writer Gaëlle Tchakaloff. She accompanied the Macrons for the book “Tant qu’on est tous les deux” (As long as we have each other).

The title of the book is a quote from Brigitte; She says this sentence often, says Tchakaloff. The president’s wife means: whatever trials come, whenever we are attacked, no one can harm us as long as we stick together.

There were a number of tests in the path of Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron. Almost a quarter of a century difference in age! A teacher who marries her student! This is also unusual in France, a country that is liberal when it comes to love.

She rejects him, laughs at him

The two first met in 1993, during a high school theater course in Amiens, a city in northwestern France.

Brigitte comes from a long-standing family. She is a teacher, 40 years old, married, has three children: Sébastien, Laurence and Tiphaine, then between 9 and 17 years old. “In my class I have a very gifted student who knows everything better,” she says at home.

Young Emmanuel falls in love with his teacher. And show her. For months. She rejects him, laughs at him, resists – until she finally succumbs to temptation and her own feelings.

Support from grandma

It takes courage to face this love. The good society to which Brigitte belongs does not approve of the decision.

But she has only one goal: the three children should not suffer from their new love and their own parents should not suffer any pain.

Emmanuel moves to Paris, to the renowned Lycée Henri-IV. At his request, as he says, at his parents’ command, as rumor has it. His mother Françoise tries to “open his eyes” and asks him not to decide anything until he is 18. He receives support from Grandma Manette, a romantic who understands him.

«Mom, I love Brigitte. If you don’t understand that – tant pis»

Brigitte regularly visits Emmanuel in Paris, but at home she is exposed to fornication. He failed an important test. “In those first years in Paris I wanted to live and love and not compete with my fellow students.” He still manages to obtain a degree in political science.

At exactly 18 years old, the young man in love says to his mother: “Mom, I still love Brigitte. If you understand that, I’m happy, if not, tant pis.” They got married in 2007. They don’t want children together. «Brigitte had three children when I married her, so they belong to us. I love them as if they be mine.”

Nowadays, seven grandchildren also belong to the large family, which Brigitte takes great pleasure in looking after: “We have a birthday every month, so we have a reason to celebrate.”

Just listen to Brigitte

The couple was and remains not spared from malicious comments. Brigitte counters: “Sure, I’m sitting at the breakfast table with my wrinkles, he’s in his youthful freshness. But if we hadn’t been together, I would have lived my life.”

Politics can destroy a marriage, but not Macron’s. “We are a confident couple and we express our opinions to each other,” she reveals. You hear that things are noisy sometimes and that Macron doesn’t listen to anyone – except Brigitte.

Ambassador of Haute Couture

As premiere lady, she stays in her own building at the Elysée, the headquarters of the government. With two assistants she takes care of the disabled, hospitals and bullying in schools. With her Live foundation she helps students who are left behind.

She also acts officially and – if necessary – defends her husband and his political projects. Always with dignity and grace. She knows that the public registers everything like a scanner: clothes, hair, length of skirts, figure (which she keeps in shape by cycling for an hour a day).

Brigitte is the best ambassador of French haute couture, with a preference for Vuitton, where she makes the skirt and skirt hems slightly longer. Like her husband, she loves good food, prefers white wine, but never finishes the glass. She is never stiff – in stark contrast to her husband. The president knows his wife’s qualities; the two complement each other perfectly.

Walking together at night

And they love each other like on the first day. Biographer Tchakaloff says: “They touch each other, hug each other, a kiss on the neck, on the cheek. They have a romantic idea of ​​their marriage, they are playful with each other, they joke, they have fun.”

After almost 30 years of relationship, this is not a given. The Macrons are aware of the dangers of a long-term marriage and allow themselves a time-out in the theater, restaurant or cinema. «We often go for walks at night. What do you want, I’m married to a man who works all the time and I have to make sure he puts his files aside every now and then.”

The state visit to Switzerland falls into the work category, but the couple also manages to be close to each other on official dates.

Source:Blick