Brigitte Macron inundated with mail
The Elysée has had to allocate five people from the palace's mail service just to respond to First Lady Brigitte Macron's letters, a clear sign that she has already garnered the affection of the French people.
Her private office told Connexion she received at first around 200-250 letters a day, which has currently dropped to around 100-150 (not including emails), but that is "enormous" compared to the mailbags of previous First Ladies, who received only around 10 letters a day on average.
Tristan Bromet, in charge of Mrs Macron's travel and media relations, said: "There are five people at present responding for her, and there will be more and more because she gets a great deal of correspondence - many letters of congratulation, requests for help etc."
He added that her private office (separate from the mail staff) is a team of three with himself, the office director Pierre-Oliver Costa and an assistant.
Aware of her own popularity, Mrs Macron reportedly has told those in her inner circle, “you watch, I will revive the name Brigitte!”. She is nicknamed ‘Bibi’ - not dissimilar from another famous Brigitte's 'BB'.
While her duties are still being defined, she is passionate about several topics. A former teacher, she is understandably concerned with education, while she is also passionate about autism: “I receive numerous letters on a daily basis about this issue,” she has said. Mr Bromet confirmed that alongside education, health is one of the priorities she has chosen for herself so far.
Mrs Macron has already delved into her role. She has met with Culture Minister Françoise Nyssen and Minister for Disability Sophie Cluzel, and will soon meet with Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer. She has also visited a hospital where children are being treated for cancer.
The Macrons have attracted significant interest in their unconventional relationship. At 64, the first lady is 25 years older than her husband and they first met when she ran the drama club at his lycée.
