Macron is caught REMOVING £2,100 watch during TV debate on pensions

Too late, Macron…we’ve clocked your fancy watch! French president is caught REMOVING £2,100 luxury timepiece during TV debate on pensions

• The interview saw Macron break his silence on the pension reform unrest 
• In the video, he appears to remove the watch while still answering questions

A video has emerged of the French President in which he appears to remove a luxury watch during a televised debate on pensions. 

The video shows Emmanuel Macron, 45, gesturing with his hands throughout the half-hour interview while sporting a luxury watch on his left wrist, which has vanished later as he continues to speak. 

Viewers were quick to comment that it does nothing to shake of the title of ‘president of the rich’ as the French leader faces considerable pressure over his controversial pension reforms. 

The government pushed the legislation through the French Parliament without a vote last week and the decision to raise the retirement from 62 to 64, nationwide riots over the weekend, leading to hundreds of arrests. King Charles on Friday cancelled a state visit to France next week due to the social unrest.

The video shows Macron wearing a watch with a blue face and black strap, which is a £2,100 BRV 1-92 model by the French company Bell&Ross, according to France Info. 

The video shows Emmanuel Macron, 45, gesturing with his hands throughout the half-hour interview sporting a luxury watch on his left wrist, which is later absent as he continues to speak

The watch is in the same colours as the president’s security unit, GSPR, and he has been wearing it for the past year and a half, with it making an appearance at the World Cup in Qatar.

Social media commentators noted that he took off the watch 11 minutes into the interview, putting his left arm under the table while continuing to field questions. 

When his hand came back from under the table, the watch had disappeared.

One viewer said that wearing the watch ‘may remind the French what they did to the bourgeoisie in the last revolution’.

‘Just as he is talking about “minimum wage workers” who have never had such high purchasing power, he discreetly removes his pretty luxury watch,’ wrote Clémence Guetté, an MP from the France Unbowed party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

The French president enjoys being called ‘the master of the clocks’ because he decides to speak and act whenever he pleases.

The Elysée was forced to explain that Macron had removed the watch because it was ‘clinking on the table’. 

In the video, Macron can be seen sporting a watch with a blue face and black strap on his left wrist, which is a £2,100 BRV 1-92 model of French company Bell&Ross, according to France Info

Social media commentators noted that he took off the watch 11 minutes into the interview, putting his left arm under the table while continuing to field questions. When his hand cam back from under the table, the watch had disappeared

The interview saw Macron break his silence on the pension reform crisis that has turned the country upside down over the last week. 

He argued that the reform raising the age of retirement is necessary and will be implemented later this year. 

Macron said he wanted the government to make changes that would ensure that companies share more of their profits with their staff members.

Although no major protests were planned for Friday, train traffic was slowed, rows of trucks blocked access to Marseille’s port for several hours and debris still littered the streets of Paris following the previous day’s mass demonstrations.

More than 450 protesters were arrested in Paris and beyond as some 300 demonstrations on Thursday drew more than a million people nationwide. 

Polls show that most French people oppose having to work two more years before retiring, which Macron says is necessary to keep the pension system afloat.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 441 police officers and gendarmes were injured as violence marred some marches. 

The heavy wooden door of the elegant Bordeaux City Hall was destroyed by fire Thursday night by people taking part in an unauthorised demonstration 

He added that 1,000 rubbish bins were set on fire in the French capital. Overflowing bins have become a symbol of the protests during a weeks-long strike by sanitation workers.

The Elysee Palace today confirmed that the state visit from King Charles had been suspended over fears for his safety.

Charles and Queen Consort Camilla planned to visit both France and Germany during the king’s first trip abroad as Britain’s monarch. 

He still plans to go to Germany, but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office said another date would be found for the French leg.

‘The king and queen consort’s state visit to France has been postponed,’ the prime minister’s Downing Street office said. ‘This decision was taken with the consent of all parties, after the president of France asked the British government to postpone the visit.’

Charles had been scheduled to visit the city of Bordeaux on the second day of his trip to France. 

The heavy wooden door of the elegant Bordeaux City Hall was destroyed by fire Thursday night by people taking part in an unauthorised demonstration.

Mayor Pierre Hurmic said he had ‘difficulty understanding the interest of such acts of vandalism’. 

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