Brigitte Macron (70) is the First Lady of France, or rather: the Première Dame. An elegant, almost girlish appearance. Clever, discreet, sovereign. Nevertheless, this charming woman constantly encounters a decidedly uncharming confrontation: Whenever people talk about her, they talk about her age.
On April 13, she will be 70 years old. And you can see from her that she keeps the discussions about her age young. “She is the oldest with the shortest dress and she can wear it,” writes the “Stern”. And: “She stands by her age, including the natural wrinkles. With that she sets a counterpoint to the botox madness from Hollywood.”
“Modern hairstyle instead of an opulent bob! … This look makes Brigitte Macron look like 30,” explains the “Bunte”. Donald Trump (76) said to her (when he was still US President): “You have held up so well.” And to her husband Emmanuel Macron (45): “She’s in great shape!” He left out the “… for her age,” but everyone could see what he meant.
Ever since she met her husband Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Macron has experienced that her age is a constant topic. Because he is not only France’s (currently hapless) President, but also 25 years younger.
Like her husband, Brigitte Macron hails from Amiens in northern France, and it is a delicate irony of their love story that her wealthy Trogneux family made her husband’s surname famous long before Emmanuel was heard of. The Trogneuxs have been chocolatiers since 1872 and sell the nationally renowned sweet specialty Macarons d’Amiens.
The couple first met at the Lycée la Providence, the Jesuit high school in Amiens. She taught Latin and French, he was a student. The two wrote a play together for the theater group, which she also directed. “Writing brought us together every Friday and created an incredible closeness,” Brigitte Macron later told Paris Match magazine. “I felt that I was shaking – and so was he.” At the performance, Macron stood on the stage as a scarecrow, she sat in the audience and thought: “What a presence!”
In itself, it is not unusual for students of this age to have a crush on their teacher. However, Emmanuel Macron was determined to live with this woman, who was married to the banker André-Louis Auzière and had three children.
Macron’s parents, both doctors, were appalled and are said to have initially considered reporting Brigitte for seducing a minor, but ultimately decided against it.
In order to avoid a scandal, Macron switched to the Parisian elite school Henri IV, where he graduated from high school. When saying goodbye, he is said to have promised Brigitte that he would come back. He was 17 and said he was supposed to be cinematic: “No matter what you do, Madame: I will marry you.”
Emmanuel’s grandmother ultimately gave the relationship her blessing and thus a future, Macron biographer Anne Fulda once reported. “Both Emmanuel and Brigitte knew it would have been over if she hadn’t agreed. She was the most important woman in his life – even ahead of Brigitte.”
Brigitte divorced her banker in 2006. André-Louis Auzière died in 2019 at the age of 65. In 2007, his ex married young Macron. At the wedding, the husband says, “Maybe we’re not a normal couple, if such a thing even exists. But we are a couple.”
The couple has no children of their own, but Emmanuel Macron is the stepfather of Brigitte’s son Sébastien, who is two years older, as well as daughter Laurence of the same age and Tiphaine, who is seven years younger. He met Laurence as a classmate at the Lycée la Providence before Brigitte. In addition, his wife is a multiple grandmother.
Brigitte Macron has never tried to hide her wrinkles. On the contrary: from the start, she gave the youthful-looking Macron an aura of maturity and character. In the almost six years of his presidency, “Bibi”, her nickname, cut a fine figure. Her confident appearance is characterized above all by her stylish taste in fashion. “Casual elegance and selected accessories make Brigitte Macron one of the most influential fashion icons in France,” writes the magazine “Brigitte”. Bernard Arnault (74), head of the luxury goods group LVMH, and his family are among the Macron’s closest friends.
In addition, the Première Dame is committed to training young unemployed people and improving the working conditions of French hospital staff and patient care. And she still advises her husband. He raves about his wife: “Without her, I wouldn’t be who I am today.” She doesn’t skimp on compliments to her husband either: “Emmanuel is a dream come true.”
In the meantime, during the ongoing massive protests against the pension reform, the Macrons have come under the stigma of arrogance and extravagance among many French people. But this accusation is primarily directed against the head of state and less against his wife, who, after 31 years in the school service, from which she left in 2017 with Macron’s presidential election, should have long been entitled to a teacher’s pension.
She also brings her age into play, especially when she makes fun of the difference in years between her husband and her: “We only notice this age difference when we have breakfast together – I with my wrinkles, he with his freshness .”
She also needs this humor when it comes to the amour fou of the Macron couple. After all, this love has sensitized people, believes the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung”, which has wrapped its allusion to Brigitte Macron’s age in a kind compliment: One should “admire the subversiveness of their relationship” and be happy that too Women beyond 60 remain sexual beings.”
