Emmanuel Macron’s step-daughter says she is still wounded by her mother’s ‘forbidden relationship’ with the future French president – and also addresses bizarre rumour that Brigitte was born male

Emmanuel Macron’s stepdaughter has spoken for the first time about her mother’s scandalous affair with the future president of France.

In an interview that will make both Macron and his first lady, Brigitte Macron, uncomfortable to read, Tiphaine Auzière admits she is still wounded by the “forbidden relationship” between a married teacher and a teenage student.

Ms Auzière, who has just published her first novel, also used her conversation with Paris Match to address claims that Brigitte was born a man.

Ms. Auzière was only 10 when she discovered that her teacher mother had a student 25 years younger than her.

Brigitte was still married, so her three young children had to constantly speculate about the ‘forbidden relationship’ in Amiens, northern France.

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron have been married since 2007

“I learned a lot about human nature,” Ms. Auzière, now 40, said in the interview published Thursday.

“I know that in these moments we must focus on the essentials and move forward without regard to criticism.

‘The attacks, the gossip, the judgments. It wasn’t yet the age of social networking, but we were in a small provincial town. Everything is known.

“Despite all this, they held on. I gained an open mind, a desire to move forward without listening to ambient noise, and a greater tolerance.”

Ms Auzière was particularly angry that her humiliated father, André-Louis Auzière, was forced to leave the family home in 1994, even though he only divorced Brigitte in 2006, allowing Macron to marry her a year later.

“A family separation can be a sadness and an opportunity,” Ms. Auzière said. ‘Recomposition can prove to be an enrichment. I have a beloved father and stepfather.”

Brigitte Macron won a defamation case against a freelance journalist who spread rumors about her gender last year – the rumors were that she was born male – but they were untrue

Macron began his affair when he was a student of Brigitte, who was 25 years older than him

Tiphaine said she always spoke of Mr. Auzière in the present tense, even though he died in 2019 at the age of 68.

Paris Match describes how ‘Tiphaine Auzière was a child when the scandal broke.’

The magazine describes how ‘the young Emmanuel often rang the doorbell at the Auzière house and the rumors continued to grow.

‘Rumors that obviously had an impact on the three children of the household.’

Ms. Auzière’s sister, Laurence, was 17 years old at the time and a classmate of Emmanuel Macron, who is the same age.

Ms Auzière said the rumors of a “forbidden relationship” were devastating for all the children, including her brother Sébastien, then 19.

All were students at La Providence, the Roman Catholic secondary school in Amiens, where Brigitte was a drama teacher.

Ms Auzière, whose new legal novel is called Assizes – referring to a criminal court – said she was also hurt by claims on social media that Brigitte was born male.

Auzière was only ten when she found out her mother was dating the future president

“I worry about the level of society when I hear what is circulating on social networks about the fact that my mother is a man,” she said.

“The confidence with which it is said and the credibility given to it is proclaimed. How can we resist disinformation on social networks?’

Brigitte Macron won a defamation case against a freelance journalist who spread rumors about her gender last year.

Mrs. Auzière, a qualified lawyer, now lives in Calais with her husband and two children.