Relationship Therapist Analyzes Telling Moment During French President Macron's Incident With His Wife
The incident between French President Macron and his wife Brigitte have left people wondering about the details of their marriage.
Victor Velter | Shutterstock Everyone seems to be up in arms about a recent video involving French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, French First Lady Brigitte. Macron and Brigitte had an altercation that has since gone viral as they arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam, for an official visit. The video, which was shot by the Associated Press, has drawn criticisms and opinions about the state of Macron and Brigitte's relationship, including accusations of domestic violence.
In an interview with The Telegraph, relationship therapist Peter Saddington seemingly addressed all the rumors and conclusions people have drawn about Macron and Brigitte's relationship. Saddington analyzed the short video clip and offered insight into what could possibly be happening between the two of them.
Relationship therapist Peter Saddington analyzed the moment between French President Macron and his wife.
"It’s a tricky one because the key element is we really don’t know the full story," Saddington, a relationship therapist with more than 30 years' experience in counseling couples, told The Telegraph.
Saddington was referencing a clip where Macron appeared inside the doorway of his aircraft shortly after landing in Vietnam late on Sunday. Suddenly, a hand and arm, the person not being fully visible but dressed in red and clearly Macron's wife, was seen shoving the president's face from his right side.
Macron appeared startled but quickly turned to wave through the open door at the crowd and cameras. Brigitte, wearing a red jacket, later appeared on her husband's right, and the couple proceeded to walk down the plane's staircase together.
"If we imagine the scenario, for instance, in which one person tells the other person they’ve had an affair, there might well be a knee-jerk physical lashing out — perhaps a push or or slap — that won’t have been thought through, and would be out of character," Saddington said. "In those circumstances, you might understand, and forgive, how it might have happened."
Saddington hypothesized that the long plane ride could've led to their interaction.
He claimed that a 16-hour flight may have frayed tempers between the couple. He also analyzed that it could've been a playful move."Perhaps he said something in jest, or tried to kiss her when she was trying to get ready for the cameras, and she was simply shoving him in a 'not now you don’t' way," Saddington continued. While he agreed that he's worked with people who describe interactions like that as "passionate," if this was genuinely mutual, then it's best not to pass judgment so quickly.
"But what I would be very concerned about is when one party is being physical, or coercive, or controlling, and the other is forced to defend themselves physically. That would be very wrong. What I think is the most telling thing is that Macron didn’t seem particularly perturbed by what happened — he didn’t look shocked or hurt. It didn’t seem to put him off his stride."
He continued, "It’s clear it’s something he wasn’t exactly anticipating at that moment, but his reaction wasn’t to panic. What marriage doesn’t suffer — and survive — the odd sniping comment?"
The viral moment between Macron and his wife brought the controversial start to their relationship back in the spotlight.
It's not the fact that President Macron is 24 years younger than his wife that has become fuel for rumors regarding what many claim is a toxic relationship. Instead, it's the fact that Macron was once a 15-year-old student under the tutelage of then 39-year-old Brigitte.
According to Daily Mail, Brigitte was married to a banker at the time, and they had three children, one of whom was in the same class as Macron. Rumors started to spread in their hometown that they were engaged in a romantic relationship, and Macron's parents sent him away to Paris to attend another school. The couple later wed when the now President was in his late 20s.
Needless to say, this unconventional start to their relationship has called into question whether or not there is an unhealthy power dynamic between husband and wife, born of the inappropriate nature of their budding romance, which both insist was platonic until Macron was of age.
French President Macron addressed the video and tried to put the rumors to rest.
While speaking with reporters in Hanoi, according to the Guardian, Macron explained that he and his wife were "joking around, as we do quite often." An Élysée Palace official told French media the scene showed "a moment of closeness. But that was enough to feed the conspiracy theorists."
Another Elysée source said the couple were "decompressing one last time before the start of the visit, larking around." They claimed that Macron "loves playing jokes on his wife before official occasions, and she always responds like this … It wasn’t even a slap."
Macron himself noted that this isn't the first time that videos involving him have been misinterpreted by the public. He said people "have thought I shared a bag of cocaine, tussled with the Turkish president, now that I’m having a domestic dispute with my wife … None of this is true. Everyone needs to calm down."
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
