Macron and wife Brigitte in show of unity after shove video
The difference between the images is stark: on Sunday Emmanuel Macron’s face was being shoved by his wife Brigitte as the pair prepared to leave an airplane that had just landed in Vietnam.
The apparent altercation – and the French president’s reaction to it – was caught on camera for the world to see.
But on Tuesday the pair were all smiles as they boarded the steps to the same flight leaving Vietnam as part of their six-day tour of Southeast Asia.
Offering a picture of unity, the married couple with a 25-year age gap was seen holding hands after waving from the boarding staircase. Ms Macron, 72, wore a cream-coloured pin-stripe suit as she stood next to her 47 year-old husband.
On Monday, in the middle of an overseas trip aimed at developing relations between France and Europe, Mr Macron had been forced to dismiss speculation of a spat spilling into the public eye.
Footage from the Macrons’ arrival in Vietnam, for the first leg of a three-country tour, caught the apparent shove before the pair descended from the presidential plane at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi. The incident caused him to step back, looking surprised, before he quickly beamed and waved at the cameras on the Tarmac below.
Ms Macron remained momentarily hidden behind the plane’s fuselage, blocking any view of her face or body language. The couple, who have been married since 2007, then descended the steps together, with France’s first lady appearing to refuse her husband’s arm.
“I was bickering, or rather joking, with my wife,” Mr Macron later told reporters. “It’s nothing. I’m surprised by it, it turns into some kind of global catastrophe where people are even coming up with theories to explain it… It’s nonsense.”
The couple appeared to convey a different image when pictured boarding the presidential plane on Tuesday as they left Vietnam for Indonesia. They will travel to Singapore towards the end of this week.
A presidential aide said the purpose of the trip was to pitch France as a reliable alternative partner to the United States and China.
But the incident between the couple has shifted the media focus of the trip.
Mr Macron cautioned that this was not the first time in recent weeks that the content of videos of him had been twisted by people he described as “crackpots”.
The French president cited a video shared on social media that showed him removing a crumpled white object from a table on a train during a visit to Ukraine.
Some social media users suggested – without providing evidence – that the object was a bag of cocaine. Mr Macron said it was a tissue, and his office accused France’s enemies of spreading fake news.
On Monday, an Elysee official said of the latest video: “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.”
UK to see off bank holiday rain with temperatures to soar up to 25C
A Caribbean jetstream is set to see temperatures rise across the country, ending the UK’s bank holiday washout.
The South East may even see up to 25C by the end of half-term week, according to a Met Office forecast.
Weather maps show a Caribbean jet stream sweeping across Britain, triggering a 48-hour spell of summer weather warmer than parts of Greece, Morocco and southern Italy.
London will even be hotter than Rabat, the capital city of Morocco, and Palermo in Sicily on Friday.
But Met Office spokesperson Oliver Claydon told The Independent that the burst of warm weather doesn’t quite reach the forecaster’s criteria for a heatwave.
He said: “Temperatures this week will fluctuate as weather systems move across the UK, bringing wet and windy weather at times, interspersed by warmer spells of sunshine.
“Temperatures could reach highs of 25C in the south on Friday and Saturday, while remaining a little cooler further north with temperatures reaching the high teens, possibly low 20Cs.
“There is a possibility as we head into June and through the latter part of next week that we could see higher pressure moving in and with it higher temperatures in the south, but at this stage, there is fairly low confidence in the extended outlook.”
He added: “Temperatures in the mid to high 20s are not unusual for late May and early June. Additionally, any period of higher temperatures is more likely to be fairly short-lived.”
Temperatures are predicted to return to normal by Monday, but could rise again by Tuesday 3 June.
The Met Office’s long-range forecast warns of strong winds and thunderstorms in that period. It reads: “Strong winds may also develop at times, particularly in the North and North West.
“With time, the signs are that systems will increasingly track to the northwest of the country, with the South probably starting to see longer, drier interludes while the North West continues to see more in the way of rain and at times strong winds.
“Temperatures are expected to be around normal overall, but will be cooler in any prolonged periods of rainfall. Meanwhile, there is the possibility of some very warm, perhaps hot conditions developing, especially in the South, and these bring with them the chance of thunderstorms.”
It came as April 2025 was declared the sunniest since records began in 1910. This followed the third-sunniest March, and both months saw temperatures well above average nationwide.
On 1 May, the temperature reached 29.3C in Kew Gardens in London – a new record for the date.
Meteorologists are warning of the potential for a summer drought, as the UK has seen roughly half its usual amount of rainfall for March and April. While farmers are concerned about this year’s harvest, some water companies are urging customers to help reservoir levels recover by limiting water use.