section_path: Personal life
section_name: Personal life
paragraph_text: Personal life
  
  Macron is married to Brigitte Trogneux, his former La Providence high school teacher in Amiens close to 25 years his senior. They met during a theatre workshop that she was giving when he was a 15-year-old student and she was a 39-year-old teacher. A romantic relationship started later, and his parents attempted to separate the couple by sending him away to Paris to finish the final year of his schooling, as they felt his youth made this relationship inappropriate. (The age of consent in France is 15.) The couple reunited after Macron graduated, and were married in 2007. She has three children from a previous marriage; he has no children of his own. Her role in Macron's 2017 presidential campaign has been considered pivotal, with close Macron allies stating that Brigitte Macron helped him to develop skills like public speaking.
  
  His best man was Henry Hermand, a businessman who loaned €550,000 to Macron for the purchase of his first apartment in Paris when he was Inspector of Finances. Hermand also let Macron use some of his offices on the Avenue des Champs Élysées in Paris for his movement En Marche.
  
  In the 2002 French presidential election, Macron voted for souverainist Jean-Pierre Chevènement. In 2007, Macron voted for Ségolène Royal in the second round of the presidential election. During the Socialist Party primary in 2011, Macron voiced his support for François Hollande.
  
  Macron plays the piano, and studied piano for ten years in his youth. He especially enjoys the work of Robert Schumann and Franz Liszt. Macron also skis, plays tennis and enjoys boxing. In addition to his native French, Macron speaks fluent English.
  
  In August 2017, a photojournalist was arrested and detained by the police for six hours after he entered the private residence where Macron was vacationing in Marseille. Macron subsequently filed a complaint for "harassment". In September 2017, he dropped the complaint "as a gesture of appeasement".
  
  On 27 August 2017, Macron and his wife Brigitte adopted Nemo, a black Labrador Retriever-Griffon dog who lives with them in the Élysée Palace. As a schoolboy, Macron decided to be baptised as a Catholic. In June 2018, prior to meeting Pope Francis, he identified himself as an agnostic Catholic. In the same year he agreed to become an honorary canon of St John Lateran, the cathedral of Rome.
  
  A fan of football, Macron is a supporter of French club Olympique de Marseille. During the 2018 World Cup, he attended the semi-final between France and Belgium with the Belgian King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, and at the World Cup final against Croatia, he sat and celebrated alongside Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. Macron received widespread media attention for his celebrations and his interactions with the Croatian president.
  
  Macron is married to Brigitte Trogneux, his former La Providence high school teacher in Amiens close to 25 years his senior. They met during a theatre workshop that she was giving when he was a 15-year-old student and she was a 39-year-old teacher. A romantic relationship started later, and his parents attempted to separate the couple by sending him away to Paris to finish the final year of his schooling, as they felt his youth made this relationship inappropriate. (The age of consent in France is 15.) The couple reunited after Macron graduated, and were married in 2007. She has three children from a previous marriage; he has no children of his own. Her role in Macron's 2017 presidential campaign has been considered pivotal, with close Macron allies stating that Brigitte Macron helped him to develop skills like public speaking.
  
  His best man was Henry Hermand, a businessman who loaned €550,000 to Macron for the purchase of his first apartment in Paris when he was Inspector of Finances. Hermand also let Macron use some of his offices on the Avenue des Champs Élysées in Paris for his movement En Marche.
  
  In the 2002 French presidential election, Macron voted for souverainist Jean-Pierre Chevènement. In 2007, Macron voted for Ségolène Royal in the second round of the presidential election. During the Socialist Party primary in 2011, Macron voiced his support for François Hollande.
  
  Macron plays the piano, and studied piano for ten years in his youth. He especially enjoys the work of Robert Schumann and Franz Liszt. Macron also skis, plays tennis and enjoys boxing. In addition to his native French, Macron speaks fluent English.
  
  In August 2017, a photojournalist was arrested and detained by the police for six hours after he entered the private residence where Macron was vacationing in Marseille. Macron subsequently filed a complaint for "harassment". In September 2017, he dropped the complaint "as a gesture of appeasement".
  
  On 27 August 2017, Macron and his wife Brigitte adopted Nemo, a black Labrador Retriever-Griffon dog who lives with them in the Élysée Palace. As a schoolboy, Macron decided to be baptised as a Catholic. In June 2018, prior to meeting Pope Francis, he identified himself as an agnostic Catholic. In the same year he agreed to become an honorary canon of St John Lateran, the cathedral of Rome.
  
  A fan of football, Macron is a supporter of French club Olympique de Marseille. During the 2018 World Cup, he attended the semi-final between France and Belgium with the Belgian King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, and at the World Cup final against Croatia, he sat and celebrated alongside Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. Macron received widespread media attention for his celebrations and his interactions with the Croatian president.
  
  Macron is married to Brigitte Trogneux, his former La Providence high school teacher in Amiens close to 25 years his senior. They met during a theatre workshop that she was giving when he was a 15-year-old student and she was a 39-year-old teacher. A romantic relationship started later, and his parents attempted to separate the couple by sending him away to Paris to finish the final year of his schooling, as they felt his youth made this relationship inappropriate. (The age of consent in France is 15.) The couple reunited after Macron graduated, and were married in 2007. She has three children from a previous marriage; he has no children of his own. Her role in Macron's 2017 presidential campaign has been considered pivotal, with close Macron allies stating that Brigitte Macron helped him to develop skills like public speaking.
  
  His best man was Henry Hermand, a businessman who loaned €550,000 to Macron for the purchase of his first apartment in Paris when he was Inspector of Finances. Hermand also let Macron use some of his offices on the Avenue des Champs Élysées in Paris for his movement En Marche.
  
  In the 2002 French presidential election, Macron voted for souverainist Jean-Pierre Chevènement. In 2007, Macron voted for Ségolène Royal in the second round of the presidential election. During the Socialist Party primary in 2011, Macron voiced his support for François Hollande.
  
  Macron plays the piano, and studied piano for ten years in his youth. He especially enjoys the work of Robert Schumann and Franz Liszt. Macron also skis, plays tennis and enjoys boxing. In addition to his native French, Macron speaks fluent English.
  
  In August 2017, a photojournalist was arrested and detained by the police for six hours after he entered the private residence where Macron was vacationing in Marseille. Macron subsequently filed a complaint for "harassment". In September 2017, he dropped the complaint "as a gesture of appeasement".
  
  On 27 August 2017, Macron and his wife Brigitte adopted Nemo, a black Labrador Retriever-Griffon dog who lives with them in the Élysée Palace. As a schoolboy, Macron decided to be baptised as a Catholic. In June 2018, prior to meeting Pope Francis, he identified himself as an agnostic Catholic. In the same year he agreed to become an honorary canon of St John Lateran, the cathedral of Rome.
  
  A fan of football, Macron is a supporter of French club Olympique de Marseille. During the 2018 World Cup, he attended the semi-final between France and Belgium with the Belgian King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, and at the World Cup final against Croatia, he sat and celebrated alongside Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. Macron received widespread media attention for his celebrations and his interactions with the Croatian president.