Michelle Obama: I'm glad I don't have a son — he would have turned out like my husband
Michelle Obama has said she is 'so glad' she did not have a son because he would have turned out like her husband, Barack Obama.
The former first lady made the comments on a podcast amid rumours of tension in the couple's relationship, although she has denied claims that they are on the verge of divorce.
'I'm so glad I didn't have a boy because he would have been a Barack Obama,' Mrs Obama, who has two daughters, Sasha and Malia, said on a podcast she hosts with her brother Craig Robinson on Wednesday.
Angie Martinez, a radio personality appearing on the episode, responded: 'Baby Barack. It would have been amazing.'
'No, I would've felt for him,' Mrs Obama countered.
Earlier in the same episode, she appeared to take a veiled swipe at her husband, who has enjoyed practising his golf game post-presidency.
'Parenting is like fly-fishing. Never been fly fishing but from what I've seen about it it's all in the wrist it's a very delicate balance... it's like nothing works the same way every time,' she said.
'It's elegance, right? It's not dunk and drop and grab... We should go fly fishing. Better than golfing,' she added, laughing.
The Daily Mail reported on Thursday that Mrs Obama had flown to holiday in Mallorca with her daughters without her husband.
Photos show the 61-year-old enjoying a drink at The Lobster Club in Puerto Portals, accompanied by James Costos, the former US ambassador to Spain, and his partner Michael Smith, an interior designer who has worked for the Obamas.
However, in a previous podcast episode this month she praised Mr Obama as a 'tremendous father' in an interview with singer Bruce Springsteen, whom Donald Trump recently labelled a 'dried-up prune'.
Mrs Obama, who recently has opted not accompany her husband to a number of high-profile events, including the funeral of former president Jimmy Carter in January, has claimed reports of strains in her marriage are sexist.
'If I were having problems with my husband, everybody would know about it,' she told a podcast in May.
The month before, she told podcast host Sophia Bush: 'We as women, I think we struggle with, like disappointing people.
'So much so that this year people were, they couldn't even fathom that I was making a choice for myself, that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing... that's what society does to us.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
22 minutes ago
- Times
Time for change: watches that are worn anywhere but the wrist
While most watches today are worn on the wrist, originally they came in the shape of fobs — attached to a waistcoat or uniform by a chain or ribbon — or were hung on pins. Later they were put on wrist straps for convenience, a style that was common after the First World War. Now makers are relegating the telling of time to a secondary function. 'We're seeing watches evolve into expressions of personal style as consumers seek more distinctive accessories,' explains Ben Staniforth, of the pre-owned luxury timepiece retailer Watchfinder & Co. 'Worn on lapels as pendants or integrated into couture, they reflect a trend where fashion meets functionality.' This article contains affiliate links that can earn us revenue Arsham Droplet watch, £76,000, If evidence is needed that this is entering mainstream culture, the actress Jenna Ortega rocking up at A$AP Rocky's Met Gala afterparty last month with an antique men's pocket watch by Heuer (known today as Tag Heuer) from c 1914 dangling from her tuxedo bodysuit should be proof enough. And the high echelons of watchmaking have cottoned on to this trend for self-expression too. Hermès debuted its Maillon Libre brooch watch in April. This gem of a timepiece can be pinned to a lapel or sleeve, or worn around the neck with a leather cord — and is a frontrunner for design ingenuity. Despite its established place in the serious fashion sphere, Chanel also knows how to have fun with its designs. The new Kiss Me necklace appropriately takes the form of the brand's cult lipstick. If that wasn't charmant enough, it slides open to reveal a hidden watch dial. Kiss Me necklace in yellow gold, golden beryls, rhodolites, onyx and diamonds, POA, Sixtie sautoir watch in rose gold, white opals and diamonds, POA, Also restringing its pearls is Piaget, which has taken inspiration from its archival necklace watches from the Sixties: the Sixtie sautoir has a lozenge watch dial as its focal point in a masterful melding of high jewellery and horology. And Hublot's long-standing collaboration with leading artists resulted in the release of a timepiece that sent ripples through the watch world last year. Designed by the visual artist Daniel Arsham, the Droplet is tethered to a chain and cased in sapphire glass, offering a clear view of the moving mechanical parts within. This cute kidney bean of a timepiece is as far removed from your grandad's gold pocket watch as you can get. Van Cleef & Arpels is a dab hand with watches that combine complex engineering with stellar gem setting. At first glance, its padlock-shaped Cadenas might look like a heavy-duty bracelet, but take a closer look and you'll find an angled watch dial set among a dazzling mix of gold, diamonds and sapphires. Panthère hinged bangle watch in yellow gold, lacquer, onyx and diamonds, POA, Sundial watch in steel, £128, Cartier is another high jeweller and watchmaker that excels at combining precious materials with covert details. Its new Panthère has Duchess of Windsor glamour in spades with its big-cat hinged bangle: cast in solid gold and set with precious stones, it also fits in a watch dial, revealed by turning your wrist a few degrees. But the most novel creation is by the young, dynamic German brand Nomos Glashütte. Its sundial watch, which can be worn as a ring or around your neck, has a machined hole that lets a beam of sunlight fall on the engraved numbers to tell the hours. It's useless at night, but it will certainly be a talking point during working hours.
Times
22 minutes ago
- Times
Reversible jewellery: designs that dazzle front and back
'The back should look as good as the front.' That's the first lesson instilled in goldsmiths at the world's most prestigious jewellery houses. It's a natural extension then to create pieces that are entirely reversible — a welcome feat at a time when gold prices are eye-wateringly high. This article contains affiliate links that can earn us revenue Rush Hour necklace in yellow and white gold and diamond, POA, Jessica McCormack's new Rush Hour collection features a sculptural wavy torque with a diamond nestled in one of its curves. The piece can be worn with the yellow-gold side facing out or flipped to reveal the white gold, so you can match it to your outfit. Chanel's Sport collection brings the same versatility to rings that pivot from a statement round-cut diamond to a more discreet enamel design on the back. Dior too embraces the concept with the latest additions to its Rose des Vents line: bracelets and necklaces whose spinning charms reveal a diamond-centred compass rose or a gently domed gemstone in hues including delicate pink opal, vivid malachite and sky-blue turquoise. Rose des Vents earring, necklace and ring in yellow gold, pink gold, white gold, platinum, diamonds, malachite, lapis lazuli, tiger's eye, pink opal, turquoise, mother-of-pearl, onyx and red ceramic lacquer, all POA, Reversibility also takes centre stage at Pomellato in the new Pom Pom Dot collection, inspired by a vintage piece. 'The discovery of a button motif in a necklace from 1974 in our archives was the starting point,' says Pomellato's creative director, Vincenzo Castaldo. 'However, we added playfulness by creating a double-sided button. Pom Pom Dot allows the wearer to flip the button to the plain gold or gem-set side,' he adds. Pom Pom Dot comprises earrings, rings and bracelets with button-shaped pendants in malachite, turquoise, mother-of-pearl and diamonds. With a satisfying click, each piece swivels to reveal a different face in rose gold. Gouette Question Mark necklace in white gold, green tourmaline, rock crystal and diamonds, POA, In India, the belief that the back of a jewel should be as beautiful as the front is rooted in a philosophy that considers beauty and craftsmanship as pathways to spiritual completeness. This applies particularly to bridal jewellery, where the hidden decoration on the reverse is seen as a metaphor for the bride's inner beauty. Honouring this tradition, Sabyasachi's opulent necklaces — no matter how lavishly set with diamonds on the front — are enamelled on the back with motifs of lotuses, peacocks and parrots. The technique, known as meenakari, was introduced during the Mogul era and originally helped protect the metal from corrosion. Cartier Le Voyage Recommencé High Jewellery necklace in white gold, diamonds, rock crystal and coloured lacquer, POA, Cartier's historic ties to India, which have inspired some of the maison's most innovative creations — including its flamboyant Tutti Frutti style — also informed a recent high jewellery necklace with two strikingly different sides. The front embodies art deco minimalism, with a cascade of rock-crystal drops interspersed with diamonds that shimmer in luminous white. But turn the piece over and it reveals a hidden explosion of colour as saturated magenta and deep blue enamel form an abstract pattern that's totally concealed when viewed from the front. Boucheron has also added a surprise to the back of its iconic Point d'Interrogation, or Question Mark, necklace. First unveiled at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris, this sinuous, clasp-free jewel, designed to be swung around the neck with a single hand, earned Frédéric Boucheron the prestigious Grand Prix. More recently the house reimagined the design with three distinctive variations, one with rubellites, another with green tourmalines and a third with deep blue tanzanites. On the reverse, each sparkles with diamonds on rock crystal. Never has the concept of 'buy one, get one free' resulted in something so stylish. Main picture: Pom Pom Dot ring in rose gold, malachite, diamonds and mother-of-pearl, £3,950,
Times
39 minutes ago
- Times
Look sharp — the return of jewellery pins
Male adornment is in vogue again — at recent red carpet events, pins have been spotted on many an A-list lapel. Their roots lie in the jabot pin, with which men secured a lace ruffle to the front of their shirts in the 17th and 18th centuries. During the early art deco period of the Twenties, they would be revived by jewellery houses such as Cartier, which also took inspiration from the turban pins of its newly acquired Indian royal clientele. Rock crystal, onyx and carved emerald beads characterised these creations with a decorative element set at each end. Today, the British jeweller Glenn Spiro's first unisex collection includes a series of seven pins using materials such as ebony, horn and (west African) Baoulé gold mixed with antique diamonds. Boucheron has looked to its archive for the arrow motif, whose design naturally fits a pin's construction, here morphing from brooch to single earring. And Dior has gone punk — its take comes in the form of the humble safety pin strung with charms in new iterations from the maison's Rose des Vents collection — while Chaumet's diamond-set signature bee sits at one end of a gold pin, with a single cell of honeycomb in the shape of a hexagonal diamond at the other. 1. Flèche single stud earring in white gold and diamonds, £15,300, 2. Nomoli Deco tie pin in yellow gold, diamonds and ceramic, £6,500, 3. Harlequin pin in yellow gold, silver, rubies and sapphires, £1,595, 4. Materials of the Old World Tribal brooch in yellow gold, diamond, horn and ebony, POA, 5. Tasaki x Fiona Krüger Chaos lapel pin in white gold and black South Sea pearl, £8,100, 6. Charms brooch in yellow and pink gold, diamonds and ornamental stones, £6,600, 7. Forces of Nature Fortitude lapel pin in titanium and diamonds, POA, 8. Bee My Love brooch in yellow gold and diamonds, £13,500, 9. Belle Époque stick pin in yellow gold, turquoise, pearls and rubies, £1,250, 10. Fleur de Pavot Bud brooch in gold plate and rock crystal, £280,
