Former first lady, Bernadette Chirac has invested full time in her role of hostess at the Élysée, even if it means opening the wallet on numerous occasions, as reported by the magazine “1:15 pm on Sunday” on France 2.
Bernadette Chirac has conquered the hearts of the French. In the magazine 1:15 p.m. Sunday Aired on France 2 on January 9, a poll created especially for the show revealed that the wife of the late Jacques Chirac was elected preferred first lady of the French with 25% of the vote, ahead of Brigitte Macron and Carla Bruni. It must be said that she invested body and soul in her role as president’s wife, but also to maintain the imposing building that the Elysee with its 365 pieces and his hectare and a half of garden in the heart of Paris.
Our colleagues from France 2 thus revealed Bernadette Chirac’s monthly budget: € 80,000 per month ! A tidy sum which made her the first lady “the most spendthrift of the Fifth Republic”. In addition to the costly maintenance of n ° 55 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, the companion of the former head of state surrounded herself every month with‘about twenty people at his service. Example, in his book Palace fees, published in 2019 by Éditions de l’Observatoire, René Dosière revealed the large sum that Bernadette Chirac disbursed annually to decorate the presidential palace with bouquets: “During his reign, we spent every year 450,000 euros of flowers.“
> Discover in pictures the evolution of Bernadette Chirac
Brigitte Macron in the footsteps of Bernadette Chirac?
Although Bernadette Chirac holds the record for the most spendthrift, Brigitte Macron has also been talked about on the budget side. In its annual report, the Court of Auditors revealed in 2020 that the expenditure in hairstyles and makeup of the Macron couple amounted to a total of 62,400 euros over the year 2019.
Article written in collaboration with 6Medias
Photo credits: screenshot “1:15 p.m. on Sunday”, France 2