Emmanuel Macron’s wife Brigitte has joined her husband for the state visit to the UK as she met with the Royal Family months after a controversy around her appearing to slap the French leader.
Dressed in a white, button-up dress, Brigitte was met at RAF Northolt by the Prince and Princess of Wales before driving to Windsor to meet King Charles and Queen Camilla.
She captured headlines across the globe in May after she appeared to push the French President in the face as the couple arrived in Vietnam for the start of a Southeast Asia tour.
In a now-viral video, Brigitte appeared to shove her husband, before he descended from the presidential plane.
She remained hidden behind the plane's fuselage, blocking any view of her body language. The couple then descended the steps together.
An Elysee official played down the moment, denying it showed an argument between the couple: "It was a moment when the president and his wife were relaxing one last time before the start of the trip by having a laugh."
As she arrives in the UK, The Independent has taken a closer look at Brigitte Macron’s life.
She met her now-husband when he was a student at Le Providence, a Catholic school in France, where she worked as a drama teacher. She was 39 at the time they first met and he was 15.
Brigitte was married to banker André-Louis Auzière, and the couple have three children, Sébastien, Laurence and Tiphaine.
The now French President began an affair with Brigitte, who is 24 years his senior, when he was 16. His parents had believed their son was dating the teacher’s daughter, Laurence, until the truth was revealed through a family friend.
Shocked, the Macrons removed their son from the school, but he and Brigitte kept in touch while he was in college.
The pair eventually married in 2007 when he was 29 and she was 54.
Becoming a stepfather to her three adult children, he told them at the wedding reception: “Thanks for accepting us, a not-quite-normal couple.”
The French President previously called his wife his “anchor”, saying she kept him focused in his job.
In an interview with CNN, Mr Macron said: “For me, it’s very important for my personal balance to have somebody at home telling you the truth every day.
“Access to truth is one of the main challenges. Somebody with her deep convictions and knowing you for what you are and loving you for what you are, not for what you represent or your role or your honours. That is very important to me.”
In an interview with Elle magazine, Brigitte said she and her husband are “just like any other couple”.
She said: “We agree, we disagree. We argue, we stop arguing. It’s very fluid.”
