French presidency clarifies role of Brigitte Macron but stops short of 'first lady' status

Brigitte Macron has become the first French president's wife with a clear official role after the Elysée Palace published a "transparency charter" outlining her function.

However, the charter stopped short of granting president Emmanuel Macron's spouse her own budget, salary and First Lady status - a controversial proposal which would have required amending the French constitution.

The former school teacher will have two presidential advisors and her own cabinet, paid for from Mr Macron's overall Elysée budget, and will focus on working with charities helping children and handicapped people.

She will also represent France by her husband's side at international summits and work with the partners of other global leaders to highlight work to combat climate change or domestic violence.

"The president will be able to task his wife with specific missions", which will be detailed on his official website, the Elysée said in a statement. Her aides have made it clear her role will be strictly public and not political.

"Operating costs" linked to her activities will be itemised and checked by the state auditor, it added.

At present, neither the French constitution nor protocol establishes any rules and previous presidents’ spouses made it up as they went along. Bernadette Chirac, Jacques Chirac's wife, had 20 advisers, while her successor, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, had five. Their public and charity work is financed out of the Elysée’s annual budget of €5m-€7m (£4.5m-£6.3m).

During his election campaign, Mr Macron promised to “clarify” his wife’s role to “end the hypocrisy” over the situation. One of his first actions after taking power was to set up a working party to examine the First Lady position.

But an online petition against creating an official First Lady role garnered more than 300,000 signatures this month. That followed a YouGov poll for the French edition of the Huffington Post in May suggested 68 per cent of the French public was opposed to the head of state’s spouse being given an official role.

The issue has sparked particular controversy at a time when French MPs face a new “morality law” banning them from employing their spouses or family members.

Raquel Garrido of the far-Left France Insoumise party, tweeted: "Good luck Brigitte Macron and one question: what does she think about the fact that MP's other halves have been blacklisted from the National Assembly?"

Last week, Mrs Macron, 64, told Elle magazine: "Like all of those before me, I will take on my public role, but the French people will know the resources at my disposal."

"We'll post my meetings and my commitments on the presidency website, so that the French people know exactly what I'm doing," she said. 

"What's important is that it is clear."

She added that she apparently didn’t like the title of First Lady anyway. 

“I don’t feel like a First Lady. That’s the translation of an American expression, and I don’t like anything about it. I don’t feel like the ‘first’, or the last, or a lady. I am Brigitte Macron!”

The mother-of-three from her first marriage has accompanied the president to a G7 summit in Italy and was also by his side when he welcomed US President Donald Trump to Paris in July.

She played a key role as coach during her husband's presidential campaign, filmed in a documentary by his side at policy meetings and helping him write and rehearse speeches.

An Elysée aide said that the definition of Brigitte Macron's official role would apply only "for the duration of Emmanuel Macron's mandate" and would not set a compulsory precedent for "his successors and their spouses".