The objectives of the paparazzi are far, very far from being limited to stalking stars in swimsuits. The life, if possible intimate, of politicians is also of great interest to “celebrity” photographers, some of whom have produced masterstrokes, sometimes disregarding respect for private life. Thus, Marine Le Pen mourning the death of her father is the most recent example, however preceded by much more resonant photos.
Paris Match is not the last to publish shocking photos, it is in fact his trademark. So the magazine did not hesitate to put online a photo showing Marine Le Pen on the plane returning from Mayotte, devastated after learning of the death of Jean-Marie Le Pen. And the president of the RN, Jordan Bardella, cried scandal so loudly that our colleagues ended up giving in and unpublishing the image.
The Mazarine affair
More Paris Match had done much better thirty years ago. On November 10, 1994, the weekly published on its front page the photo of the best-kept state secret of the Fifth Republic, the daughter of François Mitterrand and Anne Pingeot: Mazarine. Indeed, that the president had a mistress was only an open secret. That the couple had also had a child.
Except that no one had ever been able to photograph their offspring before this morning in September 1994, when photographers Pierre Suu and Sébastien Valiela stumbled upon the pot aux roses: François Mitterrand chatting with Mazarine, then aged 19, at the exit of a restaurant in Paris.
The scooter affair
This time it is Closer who does it. It is January 2014 and the celebrity magazine releases on its front page and on seven pages a real file entitled “The secret love of the president”, on the hidden relationship between François Hollande, then President of the Republic, and the actress Julie Gayet. Certainly, none of the photos show the two lovebirds together, but we see a helmeted François Hollande going on a scooter, accompanied by a bodyguard, to an apartment on rue du Cirque where the actress has just entered.
“These photos are going to be an incredible tidal wave, we are going to do nine covers in a row on this story,” the editorial director of Closer of the time, Laurence Pieau.
The yacht affair
It is May 8, 2007 and Nicolas Sarkozy was elected President of the Republic two days earlier. It was at this moment that a series of stolen photos appeared, relayed throughout the press, of the new head of state. We can see him having a good time in Malta, on a gigantic yacht in the company of his wife at the time, Cécilia, and their son, Louis.
Except that the boat in question, named Palomabelongs to billionaire Vincent Bolloré, “a friend of twenty years” said Nicolas Sarkozy. Immediately, it is the controversy on the left which screams scandal and denounces Sarkozy as a president of the rich. At MondePatrick Menucci, at the time national secretary of the PS, declared: “I find it a very bad start to be on the yacht of a CAC40 personality. He thus confirms that he is the president of the CAC40. »
The deathbed affair
This time too we owe it to Paris Match. It is January 16, 1996 and the former President of the Republic, François Mitterrand, died a few days before, on January 8. France has not yet dried its tears when the weekly publishes on a double page the incredible photograph of the former head of state on his deathbed, hands clasped, dressed all in black and his head resting on a pillow immaculate. “In the naked room, a figure recumbent for History,” is simply written in the caption.
Read our articles on paparazzi photos
If the photo caused a scandal when it was published, its author and the conditions of its creation remained a mystery for a long time. It was finally in 2007 that The World publishes an investigation revealing who “dared sacrilege”. It was Patrick Amory, a journalist who had access to François Mitterrand’s former apartment since at the time of his death, he was assisting the head of state’s wife, Danièle, in writing her memoirs.
