Emmanuel Macron’s stepdaughter spoke for the first time about her mother’s scandalous affair with the future president of France.
In an interview that will be uncomfortable for both Macron and his first lady, Brigitte Macron, to read, Tiphaine Auzière admits that she remains hurt by the “forbidden relationship” between a married teacher and a teenage student.
Ms Auzière, who has just published her first novel, also used her chat with Paris Match to address claims that Brigitte was born a man.
Auzière was only 10 years old when she discovered that her mother, a teacher, was dating a student 25 years younger than her.
Brigitte was still married, so her three young children had to endure constant speculation about the “forbidden relationship” in Amiens, northern France.
Tiphaine Auzière admits she is still hurt by Macron’s “forbidden relationship”
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron have been married since 2007.
“I learned a lot about human nature,” Auzière, now 40, said in the interview published Thursday.
‘I know that, at this time, we must focus on what is essential and move forward without taking criticism into account.
‘The attacks, the slander, the trials. It was not yet the era of social media, but we were in a small provincial town. Everything is known.
‘Despite all this, they stood firm. I gained an open mind, the desire to move forward without listening to peripheral noises and I gained greater tolerance.’
Auzière was particularly upset that her humiliated father, André-Louis Auzière, was forced to leave the family home in 1994, even though he did not divorce Brigitte until 2006, allowing Macron to marry her a year later.
“A family separation can be a shame and an opportunity,” said Ms. Auzière. ‘The recomposition can be an enrichment. I have a very dear father and stepfather.’
Brigitte Macron won a defamation case against a freelance journalist who had circulated rumors about her gender last year (the rumors said she was born a man), but they were false.
Macron began their romance when he was a student of Brigitte, who was 25 years his senior.
Tiphaine said she always spoke of Auzière in the present tense, even though he died in 2019, aged 68.
Paris Match describes how “Tiphaine Auzière was a child when the scandal broke.”
The magazine describes how “young Emmanuel often rang the doorbell of the Auzière house and rumors grew.”
“Rumors that, naturally, had repercussions on the three children of the house.”
Auzière’s sister, Laurence, was 17 at the time and was a classmate of Emmanuel Macron, who is the same age.
Auzière said the rumors of a “forbidden relationship” were horrible for all the children, including his brother, Sébastien, who was 19 at the time.
They were all students at La Providence, the Roman Catholic secondary school in Amiens, where Brigitte was a drama teacher.
Auzière, whose new legal novel is called Assizes (referring to a criminal court), said she was also hurt by claims on social media that Brigitte was born a man.
Auzière was only 10 years old when she found out that her mother was dating the future president
“I am concerned at the level of society when I hear what is circulating on social media about my mother being a man,” she said.
‘The confidence with which it is said and the credibility that is given is proclaimed. How can we resist misinformation on social media?
Brigitte Macron has won a defamation case against a freelance journalist who had circulated rumors about her sex last year.
Ms Auzière, a qualified lawyer, currently lives in Calais with her husband and two children.