Moment jubilant Emmanuel Macron invites wife Brigitte to stand by his side during Champions League celebrations with PSG squad after tense week following 'slap' video and riots in France

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

This is the moment a jubilant Emmanuel Macron invited his wife Brigitte to stand by his side during Champions League celebrations with the Paris Saint-Germain squad.
The French president and First Lady Brigitte Macron welcomed the team back to Paris this evening after they beat Inter Milan 5-0 at the final in Munich, Germany, last night.
After a victory parade through the French capital to celebrate PSG's historic win against the Italian team - lifting the Champions League trophy for the first time in the club's history - the Macrons received the players at the Elysee Palace.
Footage shows Macron posed for photos with the squad, clapping and shouting 'bravo!', before beckoning to the French First Lady to join him, with the players parting to make room.
PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi can also be seen gesturing for her to join, moving aside to create space for her and laying a hand on her shoulder to steady her.
They then invite others who appear to be club officials to join the photo - before Macron steps forward, away from his wife, to hold up a jersey with Al-Khelaifi.
The Macrons' efforts to present a united front ended a tense week for both the presidential couple and France at large.
The week began with a furore over the Macrons' 'slap' video, taken last Sunday - and ended with deadly violence and riots nationwide following PSG's victory last night.
Footage circulating this week seemed to show Ms Macron shoving her husband's face as they stepped off their presidential jet on a visit to Vietnam last Sunday.
Shocking footage shows the French president's plane door opening to reveal him - before his wife's arms emerge from the left of the open doorway.
She seems to place both hands on her husband's face and give it a shove.
The president appears startled but quickly recovers and turns to wave through the open door.
She remains concealed by the aircraft body, making it impossible to see her facial expression or body language.
The couple then proceed down the staircase for the official welcome by Vietnamese officials, though the First Lady does not take her husband's offered arm.
The moment quickly made headlines around the world, pressing the French president to deny anything was wrong and claim that they were just playfighting.
Macron's office initially denied the authenticity of the images, before they were confirmed as genuine.
A close associate of the president later described the incident as a couple's harmless 'squabble'.
An Elysee official played down the moment, denying it showed an argument between the couple, who have been married since 2007: '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.'
'It was a moment of closeness,' the official said.
Another member of his entourage played down the significance of the incident.
'It was a moment when the president and his wife were decompressing one last time before the start of the trip by joking around,' the second source told reporters.
Macron himself told reporters in Hanoi: 'I was bickering, or rather joking, with my wife. It's nothing.'
But a body language expert has since told MailOnline the interaction was far from a 'playful' moment of teasing between a husband and wife, as Macron and his inner circle had attempted to portray it.
Judi James said: 'I would not describe the gesture we saw from inside the plane as one of "play" as has been claimed.
'Pushing your partner in the face with your hand so hard their head reels to the side and they need to put a hand out to keep balance, especially with what looks like an extra "shove" at the end of the contact, should not be normalised by calling it "fun" just to save political face.'
She also pointed out the French president appeared to ball one of his hands into a fist as he disembarked the plane following the 'slap' - seemingly betraying his true feelings about the incident.
The Macrons' presence at this evening's Champions League celebrations is far from the first public appearance they have made since the 'slap' video.
In fact, the couple have been especially close in the days since the incident, as they continue their state visit.
They were also pictured at a reception for members of the French community at the International French School (IFS) in Singapore on Friday.
But Ms James claimed this was all a mark of the couple deliberately over-egging affectionate body language at the event to downplay rumoured conflict.
She said they have gone 'overkill' in their 'denial rituals' to silence the rumours.
They are putting on a performance of 'newlywed-style body language presumably aimed at making us forget the gesture', she said.
They were also pictured at a reception for members of the French community at the International French School (IFS) in Singapore on Friday (pictured)
'The pair seem set on trying to look closer than usual here,' she commented, of their appearance at the event in Singapore.
Tensions then mounted even higher in France tonight as Paris erupted into violence and rioting at PSG's victory parade.
Tens of thousands of supporters flooded the streets of the French capital to mark the club being crowned European football champions.
But the jubilant atmosphere soon gave way to unrest as tensions flared between sections of the crowd and police.
Projectiles were thrown and riot officers responded with tear gas and water cannons in an attempt to regain control.
It is believed the clashes intensified after the crowd exceeded the official limit of 110,000 people.
The resulting overcrowding is understood to have led to heightened tensions and confrontations between fans and police.
The violence in Paris this evening follows nationwide unrest overnight after PSG's victory - which saw two dead, including a teenager, and hundreds arrested and injured.
The 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death in the French city of Dax during a street party after the final.
A 23-year-old man riding a scooter in central Paris was also killed, after being struck by a vehicle.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez has said the death of the man, in his twenties, appears to be linked to the football-related disorder - but is still being investigated.
There were also nearly 560 arrests, 192 people injured and 692 fires across the country.
Macron condemned the 'unacceptable' violence at tonight's event at the Elysee Palace: 'Nothing can justify what has happened in the last few hours.
'The violent clashes are unacceptable and have come at a heavy cost: two people are dead, around 30 police officers and several firefighters have been injured.'
Before congratulating the players on their win, he added: 'We will pursue, we will punish, we will be relentless.'
Despite the violence, there was a carnival atmosphere in Paris on Sunday as fans waved flags, lit flares and belted out the Queen anthem We Are The Champions.
An open top double-decker bus in the PSG colours of blue, red and white, with the words 'Champions D'Europe' written on it, made its way slowly down the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe.
PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, chairman of club owners Qatar Sports Investments, and head coach Luis Enrique – who won the Champions League in 2015 with Barcelona and became the seventh manager to lift the trophy with two different clubs – led the celebrations.
The trophy was passed down the bus to every player, who were proudly wearing their winner's medals.