Brigitte Macron’s daughter has told a court in Paris that sexist cyber-bullying negatively affected her mother’s health and living conditions.

Tiphaine Auzière, 41, is the step-daughter of French President Emmanuel Macron.

She took the stand on the second and final day of the trial of 10 people accused of spreading unsubstantiated claims over Brigitte Macron’s gender and sexuality.

Mrs Macron, 72, has long been the target of conspiracy theories which allege she is a transgender woman.

“It is important to be here today to express the harm my mother has faced. I wanted to give an account of what her life has been like since the moment she started being targeted by these attacks,” Ms Auzière said.

She added she had noticed a change and a “deterioration” in her mother’s health since claims around her gender and sexuality began swirling.

Mrs Macron “has had to be careful about her choices of outfits, of posture… She knows perfectly well that her image will be used to back these theories,” Ms Auzière said.

She said that not a day went by that the claims were not somehow reported to her mother – “even by someone who means well and feels for her”.

While her mother had “learned to live with it”, Ms Auzière said, she suffered from the repercussions on her grandchildren who were taunted at school.

“She hasn’t been elected, she hasn’t asked anything of anyone, and she comes under attack.”

Prosecutors are seeking suspended prison terms of three months to 12 months for the accused, and fines of up to €8,000 ($9,300).

Among the defendants – all aged 41 to 65 – are an elected official, a gallery owner and a teacher.

One – a man named Aurélien Poirson-Atlan – is accused of telling his 200,000 online followers that Mrs Macron is a transgender woman and that the 24-year age gap between her and Emmanuel Macron amounts to “state-sanctioned paedophilia”.

Mr Poirson-Atlan told the court on Tuesday that he was a “satirist” who had just wished to put forward “a point of view different to that of the mainstream media”.

Two other defendants – self-styled independent journalist Natacha Rey and internet fortune-teller Amandine Roy – were already found guilty of slander last year for claiming that France’s first lady had never existed, and that her brother had changed gender and started using her name. They were later acquitted by a court of appeals.

Other defendants also said they had employed their “freedom of expression”. One requested the Macrons publish photos of Brigitte Macron pregnant to prove she is a biological woman.

The Macrons have already said they will present such evidence in court proceedings against US right-wing influencer Candace Owens.

Owens has repeatedly promoted her view that Brigitte Macron is a man and in March 2024, she claimed she would stake her “entire professional reputation” on the allegation.

Earlier this year the Macrons’ lawyer in the case, Tom Clare, told the BBC the couple would present photographic and scientific evidence to a US court to prove Mrs Macron is a woman.

“It is incredibly upsetting to think that you have to go and subject yourself, to put this type of proof forward,” he said.

Mrs Macron first met her now-husband when she was a teacher at his secondary school.

The couple ended up marrying in 2007, when Mr Macron was 29 and Mrs Macron was 54.

Breaking News: Political Turmoil in France

Paris (Imran Y. CHOUDHRY) — France faces yet another political upheaval as Prime Minister Lecornu has tendered his resignation after serving only 27 days.
Several political parties have demanded the dissolution of the National Assembly, while the far-left party has gone a step further, calling for President Emmanuel Macron to step down.
France’s political landscape has been unstable in recent years — this marks the fifth resignation of a prime minister within just two years, increasing pressure on President Macron to resign amid growing unrest.

At least three people have died in a scorching heatwave that is fuelling dozens of wildfires across parts of southern Europe, forcing thousands of people from their homes.

Red heat alerts have been issued in parts of Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and the Balkans, warning of significant risks to health as temperatures push above 40C (104F).

Spain’s weather service Aemet said temperatures could reach 44C (111.2F) in Seville and Cordoba, while southern Portugal could also hit 44C.

In Spain, an equestrian centre employee died after suffering severe burns in Tres Cantos, near Madrid, where winds over 70km/h (43mph) drove flames near homes, forcing hundreds to flee.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday that rescue services “are working tirelessly to extinguish the fires”.

“We are at extreme risk of forest fires. Please be very cautious,” he added in a post on X.

In Spain’s north-western region of Castile and Leon, almost 4,000 people were evacuated and more than 30 blazes were reported – with one threatening the Unesco-listed Las Médulas, renowned for its ancient gold mines.

Another 2,000 people were evacuated from hotels and homes near the tourist hotspot of Tarifa in the southern region of Andalusia.

Almost 1,000 soldiers were deployed to battle wildfires around the country, Spain’s national military emergency unit said on Tuesday morning.

In neighbouring Portugal, firefighters battled three large wildfires, with the most serious near Trancoso contained in the centre of the country on Tuesday.

More than 1,300 firefighters and 14 aircraft were deployed, with Morocco sending two planes after Portuguese water bombers broke down, Reuters reported. Authorities warned southern regions could hit 44C, with the temperature not expected to dip below 25C.

One child died of heatstroke in Italy on Monday, where temperatures of 40C are expected to hit later this week. Red heat alerts were in place for at least 10 Italian cities, including Rome, Milan and Florence.

A four-year-old Romanian boy, who was found unconscious in a car in Sardinia was airlifted to a hospital in Rome but died due to irreversible brain damage, reportedly caused by heatstroke, medical authorities told AFP.

Almost three-quarters of France is under heat alerts, with temperatures forecast to top 36C in the Paris region and 40C in the Rhône Valley.

French Health Minister Catherine Vautrin said hospitals were braced for fallout from the country’s second heatwave in just a few weeks.

Greece is battling more than 150 wildfires across the country, exacerbated by fierce winds, with nearly 5,000 firefighters and dozens of aircraft tackling the blazes.

Mass evacuations are under way on touristic island Zakynthos and in western Achaia, where blazes have destroyed homes, vehicles and businesses.

Grigoris Alexopoulos, the mayor of western Achaia, said the fires in the region were “out of control”, adding some coastal areas have been “irreparably damaged”.

Rescue boats have been evacuating beachgoers trapped by advancing flames on Chios and authorities have requested several EU firefighting aircraft.

Greek authorities are warning the conditions could become even more challenging in the coming days.

Turkey has brought several major fires under control, including in Canakkale and Izmir, after hundreds were evacuated and the Dardanelles Strait and Canakkale airport were closed.

In Montenegro, a soldier died and another was injured when their water tanker overturned while fighting fires near the capital Podgorica.

Wildfires in Albania forced people to evacuate their homes on Monday, while in Croatia a large fire raged in Split and was contained on Tuesday.

Parts of the UK are sweltering in its fourth heatwave of the year, with temperatures hitting 33C and amber and yellow heat health alerts in place for all of England.

Two grassfires broke out in the capital on Tuesday, one in Ealing and another in Wanstead Flats, burning more than 17 acres combined.

Scientists warn global warming is making Mediterranean summers hotter and drier, fuelling longer and more intense fire seasons.

Additional reporting by Nikos Papanikolaou.