25 March 2023 , 09:57
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French President Emmanuel Macron has sparked outrage after he was caught on camera removing his expensive watch midway through an interview over pension changes.
The clip of Macron was broadcast on French news channels and has since gone viral with political opponents suggesting it shows he is out of touch amid mass uprisings in the country.
Protests and strikes are taking place across France after the President passed a law raising the retirement age by two years to 64 without a vote in parliament.
Estimates put the number of protesters between one and three million.
“We’re fed up with a president who thinks he’s Louis XIV, who doesn’t listen, who thinks he’s the only one to know what’s good for this country,” said Michel Doneddu, a 72-year-old pensioner from the Paris suburbs told Agence France Presse.
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The palace said he took off the watch because it was "clunking on the table" (Twitter)
He puts both his hands under the table and when he brings his hands back onto the table the watch is missing (Twitter)During the half-hour interview on his decision to raise the retirement age, Macron starts the broadcast with a large watch with a blue face and black strap on his left arm.
After a little while he puts both his hands under the table and when he brings his hands back onto the table the watch is missing.
Clemence Guette, an MP for the opposition left-wing La France Insoumise party, tweeted that while Mr Macron was claiming minimum wage earners had unprecedented purchasing power, "the final image" was him "removing his pretty luxury watch".
Farida Amrani, also an MP for La France Insoumise, said: "The president of the rich has never worn his name so well."
Social media users had claimed the watch was worth up to €80,000 (£70,500) but the President's office, the Élysée Palace, told French media this is incorrect.
Protests and strikes are taking place across France after the President passed a law raising the retirement age (Twitter)The palace said Mr Macron was wearing a Bell and Ross BR V1-92, which cost around a few thousand.
The palace said in a statement: "He has been wearing it very regularly for more than a year and a half."
It also said he took off the watch because it was "clunking on the table."
Critics also claimed Mr Macron was wearing a €5,000 (£4,000) Hermes suit, but others in French media said it was a model by Parisian tailor Jonas & Cie valued at around €450 (£395).
Meanwhile, the unrest in France has caused King Charles's first state visit to be postponed.
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The British and French governments said the joint decision was made after trade unions called for a further day of nationwide strikes and demonstrations during the planned visit by the King and Queen Consort.