French President's wife Brigitte Macron gives rare interview

The interview with Mrs Macron was published this morning (July 10), by news source FranceInfo.

In the interview, Mrs Macron described her role as wife of the head of state as an “enormous responsibility”.

She said: “You have a duty to people in France. So, I believe that I must fulfil this duty. I do it with my heart. I’m not saying I always do it well, but I do it with my heart. If there are failures, I apologise for them.”

Influence on the President 

The president’s wife used to be a teacher - and was once famously Mr Macron's own teacher - and still occasionally teaches French classes.  

In the interview, she was questioned about her involvement in the education sector and her support for health workers. When asked if she used her real-life encounters with those working in these fields to influence her husband she said: “It’s complicated.”

“When people ask about the influence I have [on my husband] it’s the influence that you have in a couple. In the same way he influences me, I can also influence him. But you can’t measure it.”

Mrs Macron was clear, however, that she “keeps her distance from politics”. 

She said: “I don’t have the inclination or the competence for it. In what capacity would I enter into politics? In what capacity could I allow myself to offer guidance?”

She also denied that she had any role in helping to choose the President’s political entourage, saying: “People think that you have powers, that you do things that you’re not doing."

She added, while the couple has a high-profile public life, that “between us [Mrs Macron and her husband], our life as a couple is very simple".

The full interview can be read (in French) on the FranceInfo website here.

Related stories

Brigitte Macron thanks Brazilians for online support

Brigitte Macron: I do not feel like a ‘First Lady’