Who is Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron?

A video has surfaced showing the wife of French president Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Macron, appearing to push him in the face as the couple arrived in Vietnam at the start of a Southeast Asia tour.

In the clip taken by The Associated Press, Brigitte Macron’s arms can be spotted reaching out and shoving her husband’s face inside the presidential plane on Sunday.

Officials and Macron himself have said the couple were just “joking around”.

Slaps and squabbles aside, the pairs relationship has already been considered controversial by the public. Upon his election, the couple had already been married for a decade, having tied the knot in 2007.

So, who is Brigitte Macron and why is the pair’s relationship controversial?

Brigitte Marie-Claude Macron is a former school teacher and the wife of the French President, Emmanuel Macron.

The couple, both from Amiens in northern France, have been married since 2007. They live together at Élysée Palace, the official presidential residence.

Brigitte has an MA degree and a teaching qualification in French language and literature. She worked in Paris and Strasbourg, before returning to Amiens in 1991.

She began teaching at Lycée Saint-Louis de Gonzague, a prestigious private school in Paris, in 2007, before retiring in 2015.

Brigitte is chair of the LIVE association, which supports people over 25 who are not in employment or education, and she is also the chair of the Hospitals of Paris-Hospitals of France Foundation.

Her family are the five-generation owners of Chocolaterie Trogneux, now known as Jean Trogneux, a chocolatiers based in Amiens.

Brigitte Macron was born on April 13, 1953, making her 72 years old. Her husband, Emmanuel Macron, is 46 years old, as he was born on December 21, 1977.

There is a 24 year age gap between Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron.

Macron met his future wife when he was just 15 years old, as a student at La Providence High School, where Brigitte Trogneux, then 39, worked as a teacher.

Although Macron was not in her class, they met while working on a school play together.

Macron’s parents allegedly attempted to separate the couple by sending him to Paris to finish his schooling, however the couple reunited once Macron had graduated.

Emmanuel has three step-children through his marriage to Brigitte, though they do not have children together.

Brigitte was once married to André-Louis Auzièr, with whom she shares three children: Sébastien Auzière (born 1975), Laurence Auzière-Jourdan (born 1977), and Tiphaine Auzière (born 1984). Laurence was a classmate of her now-stepfather, Emmanuel.