Sacre bleu! The French First Lady of fashion
EMMANUEL Macron kissed his glamorous wife yesterday as he celebrated being inaugurated as France’s youngest ever President.
The centrist leader, 39, and Brigitte Trogneux – who is 25 years older than him – embraced at a lavish handing over ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
Miss Trogneux – a 64-year grandmother of seven who was her husband’s former drama teacher – stunned the crowds in a stylish pale blue Louis Vuitton suit.
The First Lady borrowed the tailored two-piece from the French fashion house, whose chief executive, Bernard Arnault, backed her husband during the election. His daughter, 42-year-old Delphine Arnault, is said to be responsible for providing fashion advice to Miss Trogneux.
Mr Macron said yesterday that France is ‘on the verge of a great renaissance’ as he pledged to restore the country’s standing on the world stage, strengthen national self-confidence and heal divisions opened up by a bitterly-fought campaign.
The former investment banker, who beat the National Front’s Marine Le Pen, said: ‘The division and fractures
‘Europe needs a strong France’
in our society must be overcome. The world and Europe need more than ever France, and a strong France, which speaks out loudly for freedom and solidarity.’
While his wife wore the borrowed outfit, Mr Macron chose a suit that his aides said cost £380. The couple’s ‘ budget’ choices were interpreted as an attempt to dissociate themselves from ‘blingbling’ politics that have marred the reputation of previous French leaders.
Yesterday’s proceedings started with Miss Trogneux walking up the Elysee’s red carpet alone.
According to protocol, as Mr Macron’s predecessor Francois Hollande is a bachelor with no consort, the man who is succeeding him had to enter the President’s official residence by himself.
Mr Macron later posed with his retired school teacher wife, whom he met while he was her pupil in their home town of Amiens, northern France.
They were joined by Miss Trogneux’s daughter Laurence Auziere-Jourdan, 39 – who was in Mr Macron’s class at school – along with her husband and their children.