Bernadette Chirac, the steel-willed former first lady of France who spent 12 years at the Elysee Palace from 1995 to 2007 beside President Jacques Chirac – weathering his notorious infidelities with dry humour while building her own political power base in rural France – has died. She was 93.
President Emmanuel Macron confirmed her death on Saturday, saying he and his wife Brigitte had learned with “great sadness” of the passing of a woman who marked French history, and changed the lives of…
