Members of Gen Z have been left shocked to learn how Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte first met – following the now-viral video of her ‘shoving him in the face.’
The Macrons shocked the world on Sunday evening after footage emerged of his wife of 18 years appearing to push him as they touched down in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The act has left many speechless but it sparked discussion among others about how the couple, who have a 24-year age gap, first met.
‘I just read the comments and found out that they were teacher and student, and that [they met] when he was 15?!’ one astounded user wrote.
‘When you learn about how old Macron was when he met his future wife, everything else makes perfect sense,’ one user posted to X, formerly known as Twitter.
‘Not just the age gap. More than that the fact that she was his teacher when he was just a kid is disturbing,’ declared another.
‘According to the reactions of those plane attendance it’s clear it was a physical altercation. She was once his teacher and that some role that never ends. It doesn’t bother that she’s 24 years older than him but the story of their romance will surely do,’ wrote someone else.
The now French President was just 15 years old when he met Madame Auziere, a teacher who was 24 years his senior, at Lycee La Providence in Amiens.
Members of Gen Z have been left shocked to learn how Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte first met – following the now-viral video of her ‘shoving him in the face’
The teacher and her pupil had collaborated on the play The Art Of Comedy, by the Italian writer Eduardo De Filippo, every Friday night for months at the school, adapting it for all the students who wanted to take part.
As the audience clapped before the curtain came down, the teenager took a bow and kissed his teacher on each cheek as she smiled with obvious delight, with the start of a love affair between Macron and Brigitte emerging.
At the time, 39-year-old Brigitte was married to banker André-Louis Auzière, with whom she shares three children, with her eldest daughter Laurence, even in the same class as Macron.
When their romance blossomed and caused a scandal in the province. Macron’s parents then sent him to Paris to attend another school, but his desire to be with his teacher and pursuit of her remained.
The teacher finally wed Macron – a civil servant in his late twenties at the time – in Le Touquet on 20 October 2007, after divorcing her estranged husband André-Louis Auzière the year before.
On Monday, Macron‘s office admitted that his wife hit him during an argument, after footage showed the First Lady appearing to push his face away as their plane touched down in Vietnam.
Shocking video of the incident, shot by the Associated Press news agency in Hanoi on Sunday evening, shows the French President’s plane door opening to reveal him.
His wife Brigitte’s arms then emerge from the left of the open doorway as she places both hands on her husband’s face and gives it a shove.
The viral video left many speechless but it sparked discussion among others about how the couple, who have a 24-year age gap, first met
The now French President was just 15 years old when he met Madame Auziere, a teacher who was 24 years his senior, at Lycee La Providence in Amiens
On Monday, Macron’s office admitted that his wife hit him during an argument, after footage showed the First Lady appearing to push his face away as their plane touched down in Vietnam
The president appeared startled but quickly recovers and turns to wave through the open door.
She remained concealed by the aircraft body, making it impossible to see her facial expression or body language.
The couple then proceed down the staircase for the official welcome by Vietnamese officials, though Brigitte Macron does not take her husband’s offered arm.
Macron’s office initially denied the authenticity of the images, before they were confirmed as genuine.
A close associate of the president later described the incident as a couple’s harmless ‘squabble.’
Speaking to reporters in Hanoi today, Macron said that the incident had been overblown, insisting: ‘I was bickering, or rather joking, with my wife. It’s nothing.’
Vietnam is the first stop on an almost week-long tour of Southeast Asia for Macron where he will pitch France as a reliable alternative to the United States and China.
