The French president reportedly douses himself in “industrial amounts” of fragrance
Emmanuel Macron has been spraying himself with copious amounts of luxury cologne, according to excerpts from a new book about the French president cited in the media.
In his book titled The Tragedy of the Élysée: Inside the Hell of Macron’s Five-Year Terms, Le Parisien journalist Olivier Beaumont claims that the president uses “industrial” amounts of fragrance on a daily basis.
Macron has a special affinity for Dior Eau Sauvage, and “a bottle [is] always to hand, particularly in one of the drawers of his desk,” the book states.
“Less-accustomed visitors may find themselves overcome by the floral and musky scent, as refined as it is powerful. It is a sign of one thing: that the president is in the building,” Beaumont writes, as quoted by The Telegraph.
“Just as Louis XIV made his perfumes an attribute of power when he paraded through the galleries of Versailles, Emmanuel Macron uses his as an element of his authority at the Élysée,” the book says.
Beaumont quotes one of Macron’s former aides as saying, “When Emmanuel Macron enters the room, you can feel it.” The aide compares the president’s use of perfume to “marking his territory.”
“It’s not subtle, but it’s fast. It means: watch out, here I come!” the aide is quoted as saying. “So much so that several staff members ended up joking about an expression they heard from one wing to the other: ‘It smells like the president.’”
The book also reportedly quotes Bruno Roger-Petit, Macron’s former spokesman, as saying, “You only have to be in the Vestibule d’honneur [the main entrance to the Élysée Palace] to know whether he has been there recently or not.”
The Dior brand is owned by Bernard Arnault, Europe’s richest man, who is reportedly close to the president. Last year, Macron awarded the billionaire the country’s highest honor, the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor.
Macron was first elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2022. His PR campaign has often emphasized his youthful appearance and athleticism. He posed with boxing gloves during campaign events and, in 2024, his office released photos of the president hitting a punching bag.
