Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, lamented the duties of being the first lady of France and complained she didn’t get much attention during her state visit to the US., according to an interview she gave while in Washington this week.
“I don’t feel at all like the first lady. You fall into this responsibility to represent French men and women. If not, I live a normal life,” Macron said, according to a Thursday report.
“What I don’t like is that there is never an off time. Wherever you are there is always someone there to take a photo. … There is never a time when you can be completely tranquil. That’s the heaviest cost,” said Macron, 65, about life married to the 40-year-old president.
During her three-day visit to Washington, the touchy relationship between President Trump and President Macron stole the spotlight, as well as first lady Melania Trump’s designer outfits, which included a white wide-brimmed hat she wore Tuesday.
Macron said she is used to feeling out-of-place and as if she is living in her husband’s shadow.
“We are here, without being there, while being there,” Macron added. “In my head, I’m the wife of Emmanuel Macron, not the wife of the president.”
President Macron had indicated his wife would play a larger role in his administration than previous first ladies. He introduced a transparency charter last August in an attempt to give her a job and focus, but she has done little in that role.
