Macron couple flooded with letters of distressed citizens
The controversies surrounding Brigitte Macron is known to everyone in France, but the news that seven people are needed to read the flood of letters and e-mails that the first lady receives, has nevertheless created havoc.
Published: July 23, 2019, 9:10 am
On 18 July, the French newspaper Le Figaro, investigated the costs of the Elyseé Palace, highlighting the fact that Madame Macron’s correspondence is financially burdensome.
In fact, Brigitte Macron spent 279 144 euros in one year, especially in her personal capacity. Expenditures that, added to those of her husband, have made their budget exceed 5 million euros compared to what was expected.
Among the various items, highlighted Le Figaro, the most expensive disbursement of the première dame was for seven agents of the presidential correspondence service, who have to deal with the 19 500 letters sent by the French during the past year: 6 500 in more than the previous one.
Brigitte indeed received as many as 140 letters a day, much more than her predecessors. The notable need of the French to communicate with the Macron couple had already been noted by the editorial staff of Le Parisien, the newspaper of the region of the French capital , the Île de France, which had highlighted, that the dog of the presidential couple, Nemo, was also a gift.
One of the most discreet places is the service of the correspondence of the presidential palace (SCP), installed in a wing at Alma, at the edge of the Seine. It is there, in these old royal stables installed 3 km from the Elyseé, that the missives addressed to Emmanuel Macron and his wife arrive. Just writing his surname on an envelope, followed by his title, means the letter will arrive safely. There is no need to stick on a stamp either. “If you write to the president or Santa, you are exempt from postage,” according to the French Post Office.
An amazing machine detaches these letters at the rate of a hundred per minute. “They are open and counted,” says Maxence Den Heijer, head of the SCP. Every day, about 1000 letters arrive.
“In the sorting room, six gloved officials (for reasons of hygiene and safety) are responsible for peeling the missives which are read once before being classified in stamps stamped “urgent”, “petition”, “unworkable”, says the head of correspondence. Messages of insults remain a dead letter.
Many protest against the government’s decision to reduce speed on secondary roads at 80 km/h and adolescents also turn to the president for clarification on the baccalaureate reform or the universal national service.
Above all, however, pensioners have taken up the pen to talk about their distress and to explain the consequences of the rise of the CSG (Generalised Social Contributions).
“People share their difficulties. Some send us all their files, their accounts … “, explained Geoffroy Lechevalier, head of the sorting center.
There are two types of missives. First, these requests from French citizens who write to the head of state “as a last resort” in order to challenge a court decision, or to ask for a place in a nursery … ” said Maxence Den Heijer.
Sometimes the distress is blatant, as with a suicide. “Then it activates a special procedure, and the prefecture is contacted,” says the boss of the SCP.
All rights reserved. You have permission to quote freely from the articles provided that the source (www.freewestmedia.com) is given. Photos may not be used without our consent.
Consider donating to support our work
Help us to produce more articles like this. FreeWestMedia is depending on donations from our readers to keep going. With your help, we expose the mainstream fake news agenda.
Keep your language polite. Readers from many different countries visit and contribute to Free West Media and we must therefore obey the rules in, for example, Germany. Illegal content will be deleted.
If you have been approved to post comments without preview from FWM, you are responsible for violations of any law. This means that FWM may be forced to cooperate with authorities in a possible crime investigation.
If your comments are subject to preview by FWM, please be patient. We continually review comments but depending on the time of day it can take up to several hours before your comment is reviewed.
We reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, contain slander or foul language, or are irrelevant to the discussion.

The Ursula von der Leyen Affair
After a criminal complaint in Belgium against the President of the European Commission, the so-called SMS-case, now takes a new turn. The judge responsible for the investigation will likely gain access to the secret messages exchanged between Ursula von der Leyen and Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, at least if they haven't been deleted.

Publisher of Unique Literature Worldwide Blocked by International Distributor
Arktos has distinguished itself by publishing groundbreaking philosophers and social critics. Now, the publisher's international distributor has abruptly terminated the cooperation, and more than 400 already printed titles cannot reach their audience. There is strong evidence that the distributor has been under pressure, something that has also happened in Sweden. We have spoken with Arktos founder Daniel Friberg about the ongoing struggle for freedom of speech in a shrinking cultural corridor.

Care prompts bishops to criticize transgender ideology
The Catholic bishops of the Scandinavian countries presented an open five-page letter criticizing transgender ideology on March 21, just before Easter. The document primarily expresses care and advice and was read aloud in Catholic churches in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. Cardinal Anders Arborelius, Bishop of Stockholm, is one of the signatories of the document.

Brits Forced to Live in Darkness and Cold
Food prices are rising at a furious pace, fastest in Scotland in almost half a century. At the same time, energy prices are at record highs. People are forced to choose between freezing or going hungry, and a majority of Scots are forced to live in cold and darkness to cope with bills. Old generations' tricks for saving and keeping warm are returning. Nevertheless, it is feared that 10,000 Brits will die of cold homes this winter. We present the Swedish Public Health Agency's guidelines on indoor temperature. Governments in Europe are introducing rationing and monitoring of food purchases. Net-zero emissions are a lie that, in practice, de-industrializes the West and dramatically lowers our standard of living.

Thousands of Flemish farmers block roads in Brussels against nitrogen policy
BrusselsMore than 2500 farmers from Belgium's Dutch-speaking Flanders region gathered at Brussels' central Arts-Loi street and blocked roads with tractors toward Brussels to protest the regional government's plan to limit nitrogen emissions.

Orban: EU energy sanctions costing citizens billions
BudapestHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned that some western states could soon send troops to Ukraine. He also criticized the fact that the EU sanctions against Russia had cost Hungarian taxpayers tens of billions of euros.

Italy: New leader of the Social Democrats is one of Soros’ ‘preferred politicians’
RomeDuring the election campaign, Elly Schlein presented herself as the standard-bearer of the poorest. However, her background and previous work raise doubts about her honesty.

UK greenhouses shut down due to high energy costs
LondonIn Great Britain, a particularly depressing facet of the crisis is now showing its first contours - and thus anticipating what is likely to happen in other European countries in the near future: because of the exploding energy prices, agriculture is being strangled and fresh produce has to be rationed.

Lisbon opens borders to all Portuguese speakers
LisbonNot only the German and Italian governments keep opening new paths for immigration. Portugal, too, has opened a Pandora's box and is paving the way for possibly millions of non-European immigrants to the EU – something which is not mentioned by the mainstream media.

Illegal immigration to Italy has reached its highest level ever
RomeIn Italy, despite the overwhelming right-wing electoral success in September, there is still nothing to be seen of the promised asylum turnaround – on the contrary. Giorgia Meloni has been in office for five months, but the arrivals of migrants in Italy have doubled compared to the previous year.