What Michelle Did Next

She’s been relishing life out of the public eye but, finds Jane Mulkerrins, with her memoir out this week and an arena tour, the former First Lady is back with a bang.

- Jane Mulkerrins

The last time most of the British public caught sight of Michelle Obama was in January 2017, when she was graciously – if a little awkwardly – accepting a Tiffany gift box from the incoming First Lady, Melania Trump (a move very much against protocol, hence the awkwardness), shortly before husband Donald was sworn in as President.

But while the new residents of the White House have barely allowed a day to go by since without generating front-page headlines, the former First Lady has slipped quietly from public view.

This distinctly low profile over the past two years has been entirely deliberate, according to insiders. ‘She was counting down the days until she could leave the White House and have a more normal life,’ says Kate Andersen Brower, author of First Women: The Grace And Power Of America’s Modern First Ladies. ‘Most First Ladies feel claustrophobic in the White House – she jokingly called it “a really nice prison”. Of course, she has Secret Service protection and gets recognised everywhere, but she at least has more freedom than she used to.’