New documentary reveals intimate dynamic between French President and First Lady

The documentary “Behind the Scenes of a Victory” aired in France this week following Emmanuel Macron’s historic win over the National Front’s Marine Le Pen in Sunday’s election.

It shows hours of political footage taken during seven months on the road cut down to 90 minutes including a rare insight into his private relationship with his wife, Brigitte Trogneaux, who is 24 years his senior.

The documentary shows her as a “protective, critical and ever-present” figure, The Times reports.

Scenes reveal him asking for a chocolate before she intervenes saying, “I don’t want you to eat that rubbish” leading him to opt for water instead.

It also shows him seeking her approval by asking how he did at a rally in Lyon that attracted 20,000 people. She replies: “Darling we’ll talk about that alone, you know that.”

Another moment shows him checking football scores and saying “that’s the “f****ing second time” his team has been beaten before being interrupted by Brigitte who says: “We don’t care about that.”

The relationship between the 39-year-old former investment banker and his former drama teacher has led to headlines around the world.

They met while he was 16 and she was married with three children. He later convinced her to leave his family for him in what some commentators have called a sign of his self-belief and assurance at a young age. They married in 2007.

While she has previously kept out of the spotlight, Trogneux has steadily become a greater part of his campaign — appearing on stage with him after he won the Presidency and tenderly kissing his hand.

“She’s a good looking 64” said one student watching, as chants of “Brigitte, Brigitte” rang out in front of the Louvre.
 

Ms Trogneaux opened up about their relationship in a documentary last year including the fact he told her at 16 he would marry her.

“He wasn’t like the others,” she said. “He wasn’t a teenager. He had a relationship of equals with other adults.”

“I didn’t think it would go very far …. I thought he would get bored. We wrote, and little by little I was totally overcome by the intelligence of this boy.

“We’d call each other all the time and spend hours on the phone,” she said.

“Bit by bit, he defeated all my resistance, in an amazing way, with patience.”

The documentary also includes the inside word on some of the most critical moments of the brutal French campaign.

At a Whirlpool factory visit where Mr Macron’s appearance was upstaged by Ms Le Pen meeting workers outside, it shows him telling his team he “can’t afford to be seen to be hiding” inside after being advised by security.

Another scene shows him ordering a “cordon bleu” for lunch only to be told “that’s on the kids menu”.

Meanwhile Marine Le Pen’s niece Marion Marechal Le Pen, 27, announced she would “temporarily” quit politics to spend more time with her family.

It’s a massive blow for the family party as she is one of only two MPs and her grandfather Jean Marie called it a “desertion”.

“You know my story, you know I’ve been in this political world all my life. At 27 it is time for me to leave it for some time,” she wrote in an open letter to a newspaper.

“I am not giving up forever on this political battle.”