Classroom crush to face push: Key moments in the Macrons' relationship

Sky News

27-05-2025

French President Emmanuel Macron has dismissed a video of him being pushed in the face by his wife as "nonsense".
The clip, which shows Brigitte Macron place her hands on her husband's face as they prepare to exit their plane, sparked suggestions that the French first couple were caught in the middle of an argument.
But Mr Macron said afterwards it was a case of "simply joking with my wife, as we often do".
The pair's relationship has been in the headlines since Mr Macron's political career put him, and his loved ones, in the public eye.
Both have been quizzed about their 25-year age gap - he is 47 and she is 72 - as well as their unconventional meet.
Use our slider below to look through some of the key moments of the Macrons' relationship.
When Emmanuel met Brigitte
Mr Macron met Brigitte Trogneux, as she was then known, in 1993 when he was 15.
At the time, she worked as a teacher at his secondary school in the French city of Amiens. As a student, Mr Macron was not in the classes his future wife taught, but the pair spent time together while working on a school play and during theatre workshops she ran.
She was almost 40, married to banker Andre Auziere and had three children, Sebastien, Laurence, and Tiphaine.
According to biographer Anne Fulda, who interviewed the Macron family, the French leader's parents initially thought he had a crush on Laurence Auziere, who was in his class at school. But in fact it was her mum.
Mr Macron's mother, Francoise, is quoted in Fulda's book as saying: "We couldn't believe it. What is clear is that when Emmanuel met Brigitte we couldn't just say: 'That's great!'"
His parents also allegedly told Brigitte to stay away from their son until he was 18, to which she replied: "I cannot promise you anything."
Years later, she would confide in a friend that being with the young French president was like "working with Mozart".
'I will marry you'
Defying the orders from Mr Macron's parents, the pair kept in touch, even after he was sent to Paris to complete his education at one of France's finest schools.
Now around the age of 17, Mr Macron told his future wife: "I will be back for you. Whatever you do, I will marry you."
In a 2017 interview with Elle France magazine, Mrs Macron said there was "nothing between" the two of them at the time he went to Paris, but it "all unfolded very slowly".
She said: "The great distances that separated us physically until 2007. But we wrote to each other all the time during that period.
"It all unfolded very slowly. I gradually brought my family to realise that. Emmanuel gradually brought his family to realise that."
She admitted at the time she was concerned for her children as "spiteful gossip" had been "making the rounds".
The couple eventually got married in 2007, a year after she divorced Mr Auziere. At the time of their wedding, he was 29 and she was 54.
Life as the French first lady
Nearly a decade after tying the knot, Mr Macron made a bid for the presidency, which he won in May 2017.
From the moment Mr Macron started campaigning in 2016, his wife was with him on the election trail, during which he said he would "clarify" the role of the head of state's spouse.
Shortly after becoming the first lady, Mrs Macron was asked about the relationship with her husband, and their age gap - which is the same as Donald and Melania Trump.
She told Elle France that the difference in their ages is a "joke between" them, adding: "Anything anyone might say about the 20 years' difference is just a big nothing."
She said: "Of course, we have breakfast, me with my wrinkles, him with his fresh face, but that's how it is. If I had not made that choice, I would have missed out on my life."
Dispelling rumours
As a couple, Mr and Mrs Macron have had to dispel various rumours that have emerged about them both.
In 2017 Mr Macron laughed off rumours of a gay affair outside his marriage, saying: "If you're told I lead a double life... it's because my hologram has escaped."
Then in 2022, Mrs Macron launched legal action over the spread of false claims that she was transgender.
In September 2024, she was awarded €8,000 (£6,000) in damages by a Paris court after it found two women guilty of spreading the false claims.