Macron and his granny love .
They met when he was 15 and she was his much-older teacher. Now they’re France’s new presidential couple
HE IS the youngest leader of France since Napoleon, a handsome 39-year-old who sent Twitter into overdrive as users speculated whether he was sexier than Canada’s much-celebrated prime minister Justin Trudeau.
“Liberals really do have the hottest politicians,” one quipped in the hours after Emmanuel Macron – or the French JFK, as he’s been dubbed – swept to victory, commanding 66 percent of the vote and leaving his far-right opponent, Marine Le Pen (48), out in the cold.
And by his side was the only woman he’s ever had eyes for: the 64-year-old grandmother of seven for whom he fell when he was just 15.
Brigitte Trogneux was his teacher in high school and though their love was taboo, it survived. Now Brigitte isn’t only France’s first lady but will become a bona fide member of her husband’s government – even if she won’t be drawing a salary.
“Brigitte’s main interest is education reform and she’ll concentrate on work for autistic and disadvantaged kids,” says Candice Nedelec, who co-wrote a biography on the Macron couple.
By not paying his wife, Emmanuel is hoping to avoid the kind of controversy that dogged François Fillon, who was vying for the presidency until it emerged he was paying his British wife, Penelope, handsomely for a job she never did. Penelopegate, as the scandal was called, led to Fillon falling out of the race.
Brigitte will be mirroring Michelle Obama, insiders say, and adopt a handson approach to her tenure as first lady.
The “French Jane Fonda”, as the media calls her, is one of the most fascinating, colourful characters ever to move into the Élysée Palace, France’s equivalent of the White House.
She’s a style icon as famous for her tanned body, shapely legs and bright white smile as for her love of short dresses and tight leather pants.
Last year she garnered plenty of attention when her lithe, floral swimsuit-clad figure appeared on the cover of Paris Match magazine as she strolled down the beach with her fresh-faced husband.
There’s no doubt they’re a popular cou- ple – and the fact they have such a captivating backstory only adds to the appeal.
BRIGITTE doesn’t call herself president of Emmanuel’s fan club for nothing. She’s his biggest supporter and most trusted adviser, those in their inner circle have revealed. In 2015 she retired as a schoolteacher to devote herself full time to her husband’s political career. She helps with his speeches, and during his time as a cabinet member even attended meetings. When he announced En Marche! (“forward!”), his own political movement in April last year, she sat in the front row and took notes. And during his presidential campaign she was constantly at his side.
The French are famously accepting of unconventional love matches and Brigitte is a respected member of society – but there was a time when their relationship caused nothing but grief.
It all started in the city of Amiens in the north of France where Emmanuel was a high school student and Brigitte his 39-year-old drama teacher – and a married mom of three.
“It was a big scandal back then,” says Benoît Delespierre, a local journalist who was close to Brigitte’s wealthy family. “Her father, Jean, was furious. People are open-minded about love and sex in France but it was a big deal. She was married, had three children and he was her student. You can only imagine what other parents must have thought.”
Back then Brigitte, the youngest of six children, was known as Brigitte Auzière. She taught French literature and Latin at Emmanuel’s private Catholic school, and ran the school’s theatre club. Her eldest daughter, Laurence, was in Emmanuel’s
class. Brigitte met him when he auditioned for a role in a school production and they later reworked a play together.
“Writing brought us together,” Brigitte says. “It unleashed an incredible closeness. We wrote and little by little I was charmed by his intelligence. He wasn’t like the others. Nobody will ever know at what moment our story became a love story. That belongs to us. That’s our secret.”
At first their close relationship didn’t bother Brigitte’s then-husband, AndréLouis Auzière, a banker she’d married at 20. He was used to students coming over and even bringing gifts such as flowers or champagne.
When Emmanuel told his parents, doctors Françoise and Jean-Michel, he was in love with a member of the Auzière family they initially thought it was Laurence.
They were so angry when they found out it was Brigitte they sent him to a private school 120 km away in Paris for his final year of school and forbade her from seeing their son until he was 18.
Her answer? “I can’t promise you anything.” But 17-year-old Emmanuel made a promise to Brigitte before he left. “You’re not going to get rid of me,” were his words. “Whatever you do, I’m going to marry you.”
They’d regularly speak on the phone for hours and by the time he turned 18 they were officially a couple. Emmanuel went on to study politics and philosophy but didn’t look at another woman during his years at university.
Brigitte left her husband and took a teaching position in Paris to be closer to her younger boyfriend. They tied the knot in 2007, when he was 29 and she was 54, and they’ve been inseparable ever since.
BRIGITTE couldn’t have asked for a more successful husband. After completing his studies he went to work at investment bank Rothschild and within four years he was earning a fortune.
Emmanuel met his predecessor, François Hollande, in 2008 and worked on his presidential campaign in 2010. Two years later Hollande gave him a position in his cabinet as adviser on economic and European matters.
But in June 2014 Emmanuel resigned, apparently because he was unhappy that Hollande wouldn’t carry through plans for more economic reform.
He was on the verge of leaving politics when Hollande offered his protégé the job of minister of the economy.
Emmanuel left in August last year to campaign for the presidency, just months after he started his own political movement – a move that didn’t sit well with many members of government, who viewed him as disloyal.
Hollande (62), highly unpopular among the French people, removed himself from the presidential race soon after.
The Macrons, who until then had been fiercely private, have been front-page news ever since. Emmanuel has a good relationship with his stepchildren, engineer Sébastien (42), cardiologist Laurence (39) and lawyer Tiphaine (33), who worked on his campaign. And now even Brigitte and her mother-in-law are on good terms. Still, not everyone buys into their fairytale ending. Brigitte has been called a “menopausal Barbie” on French radio and there were even reports Emmanuel has a gay lover: Mathieu Gallet (40), the handsome head of Radio France.
Emmanuel denies the rumours. “I hear people saying I have a secret life or something. It’s not nice for Brigitte . . . She’s asking herself how I could physically do that. She shares my life from morning to night.”
Like Brigitte’s youngest daughter, Tiphaine, says, “I know few couples so happy.”
‘Nobody will ever know when our story became a love story’