The Curse Of The Elysée Palace

As France risks getting a British woman as its First Lady, Patrick Marnham warns Penelope Fillon to watch out.

The recent history of domestic life in the Elysée Palace may not be encouraging for Penelope Fillon, née Clarke, who grew up in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. The grandeur of the Elysée and the executive powers enjoyed by the presidents of the Fifth Republic seem to go to their heads; and her husband, François Fillon, is a strong candidate to win next year’s presidential election.

A low point may have been reached when the present occupant, François Hollande, was elected after campaigning as ‘President Normal’. Hollande was never entirely ‘normal’ – or at least not in the Abergavenny sense of the term. Although he was the father of four children, he never married their mother, Ségolène Royal, herself an experienced politician and a former presidential candidate.

Hollande arrived at the Elysée with a mistress called Valérie Trierweiler, a Paris Match journalist who had left her husband to live with Hollande. On moving into the palace, Trierweiler demanded to be officially recognised as France’s First Lady. She also appeared to be insanely jealous of Ségolène. This situation amused Madame Royal, who said, ‘It’s not the last one she should be worrying about, it’s the next one.’