Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, recently opened up about her anxieties regarding their relationship in the early days of dating. In an interview with Paris Match, she revealed her concerns that Macron would “fall in love with someone his age” after he moved schools. She admitted that her head was in a mess and that dating such a young boy was challenging for her.
Macron also shared that she believed Macron would find someone his own age when he left for Paris. However, that didn’t happen, and the couple’s significant age difference, with her being 70 and him being 45, has remained a topic of discussion. Macron addressed the age difference in a 2017 interview with Elle France, stating that there are moments in life where vital choices need to be made.
The couple first met when Macron was a student at the Catholic Providence school in Amiens, where Brigitte taught drama. Her daughter was Emmanuel’s classmate. The age difference caused a scandal when it was revealed that Brigitte, a 40-year-old teacher, was in a relationship with her 15-year-old student. Despite Emmanuel being sent to a boarding school in Paris, their relationship continued.
After Emmanuel’s departure, Brigitte stopped teaching drama and started teaching Latin. She was already married but estranged from her husband at the time. She divorced him shortly before marrying Emmanuel. Brigitte also worried about how the relationship would affect her children, who were the same age as Emmanuel. She waited ten years before marrying him to ensure it wouldn’t deeply upset her family.
When they finally married in 2007, Emmanuel, at the age of 29, thanked his three stepchildren for accepting them as a “not-quite-normal couple.” Emmanuel went on to become the youngest-ever president of France at the age of 39, which was roughly the same age Brigitte was when they first met.
Overall, Brigitte Macron’s recent interview sheds light on the anxieties and challenges she faced due to the significant age difference in her relationship with Emmanuel Macron. Despite the initial concerns, their love endured, and they have built a life together in the public eye.
