Tiphaine Auzière was only 10 years old when her mother suddenly became the talk of Amiens, the small town in northern France where they lived. Her reason, separating from her father for a teenager: Emmanuel Macron. The local gossip became a real nightmare, especially considering that Brigitte was Emmanuel’s teacher; something that Tiphaine herself has acknowledged made her suffer a lot.
More than three decades have passed since then, but Brigitte Macron’s daughter wanted to remember the past and tell everything she experienced during those beginnings in the relationship between her mother and the man who is today president of France. She has done so by introducing her new novel, which she bases on her experiences as a lawyer; and I couldn’t have better words for the one who today is her-her stepfather and only six years older than her.
Auzière opens up like never before in an interview with Paris Match, where she tells how she felt when Emmanuel Macron appeared in their lives. The then fifteen-year-old was only a few years older than her, and younger than her two brothers; so the beginnings were anything but simple.
Macron fell hopelessly in love with Brigitte Auzière, his theater teacher – who was 40 years old at the time – at school. Macron was a classmate of Laurence, his older sister, which made everything even more complicated.
“A separation is painful, but when there is something particular, it is even more painful,” explains the daughter of the now French first lady, who confesses that those times taught her life lessons that she will never forget. “I learned a lot about human nature. I know that in times like these, you have to focus on what is essential and move forward regardless of criticism.”
Auzière remembers that the children and the townspeople did not forgive that love, considered “taboo” at that time. “The attacks, the slander, the trials. It wasn’t yet the era of social media, but we were in a small provincial town. People knew everything,” she remembers.
Macron divorced her ex-husband, André-Louis Auzière, a banker, in 2006 and married Macron a year later, as he began working as a civil servant.
Despite everything, Tiphane Auzière assures that he does not hold any type of grudge against anyone; What’s more, she adores her mother and her stepfather. “A family breakup can be both a heartbreak and an opportunity. Blending families can be enriching. I have a mother and stepfather who I adore,” she said.
André-Louis Auzière died in 2019 practically in seclusion and without ever granting an interview.
Last November, Brigitte Macron herself spoke about those times, acknowledging that it was precisely her concern for her children that made her not take the step and end her marriage of almost a decade. “The only obstacle was my children. I took the time not to ruin their lives, and it lasted 10 years. You can imagine what they were hearing, but I didn’t want to miss out on my life.