7 things you never knew about Brigitte Trogneux, France's new First Lady

The couple didn’t exactly have a conventional courtship, having met when Emmanuel was a 15-year-old school boy and Brigitte, a married mother-of-three.
Although Brigitte was never assigned as his teacher, she was in charge of the high school drama club when Macron joined. They got to know each other when a then 16-year-old Emmanuel suggested they write a play together.
Macron was just 17 when he declared his intention to marry Brigitte, but his parents were concerned about the budding relationship and sent him away for his last year of high school.
“You cannot get rid of me. I will come back and I will marry you,” Macron told Trogneux according to his biographers.
Brigitte eventually divorced her banker husband and joined Macron in Paris. “Little by little, I came totally under the spell of the intelligence of this young boy,” Trogneux told France 3 TV.
And proving their doubters wrong, the couple went on to marry in 2007. Aww. [Photo: Reuters]

At 64, Brigitte Macron is 25 years older than her 39-year-old husband. Something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the keyboard nasties, who haven’t been able to resist shaming the couple about their age difference. Defenders have stepped in to point out that the age-gap is identical to that of Donald and Melania Trump, only in this case it is the woman who is older. [Photo: DOMINIQUE JACOVIDES / BESTIMAGE]

Despite being a traditional chocolatier company heiress, Brigitte decided not to follow in her family’s footsteps and instead chose a career in teaching. [Photo:EPA]

Though the pair do not have children together, Macron refers to his wife’s three children and seven grandchildren as his family.
In a bid for their relationship to be taken seriously and not considered a scandal, the couple has always been very open and honest about their history. They have made a point of posing together in glossy, French magazines, describing their marriage as a celebration of an atypical but loving, modern family.
“We do not have a classic family, it’s undeniable,” Macron said at a recent event.
“But do we have less love in this family? I do not think so. Maybe there’s even more than conventional families.” [Photo: AFP]

Throughout the election campaign Brigitte has been constantly by her husband’s side, putting her own career as a teacher on hold to do so. From managing his agenda, to editing his speeches, Brigitte was even seen to advise the electoral candidate on his stage presence. A recent documentary seemed to show her guiding him through a practice run for a speech, cutting in halfway through to tell him to lift his voice.
“Every night we debrief together and we repeat what we have heard about each other,” she told Paris Match.
Now that he has been elected, Macron plans to formalise the job of first lady and allow his wife to help shape her new role.
“She will have an existence, she will have a voice there, a view on things. She will be at my side, as she has always been, but she will also have a public role,” he said earlier this month. [Photo: Getty]

Macron’s female-friendly policies are also said to have been influenced by his wife. He recently announced “I want to be recognised as a feminist by women,” and has pledged to defend equal pay and maternity leave.
The new president-elect has also stated that half of his party’s candidates in the parliamentary elections were women, and supporters believe that with his wife’s help France as a country will be more female-progressive. [Photo: AP]

A style lover, Brigitte’s style is often described as modern, elegant in French magazines and it’s clear she has a passion for fashion having been spotted in the f-row at recent Dior and Louis Vuitton shows. We’re looking forward to her first lady style look book. [Photo: AP]