The daughter of French first lady Brigitte Macron has slammed rumours that her mother was actually born a man.
French lawyer Tiphaine Auziere compared her mother to Kate Middleton, saying she was right to use the law to fight the online misinformation about her.
Macron had taken the false claim made by right-wing magazine Faits et Documents (Facts & Documents) to French court arguing that it is important for people to be able to have legal support in these situations.
Auziere said in an interview with the Telegraph that she was glad her mother took the magazine to court, and praised the Princess of Wales following her announcement that she was being treated for cancer.
Brigitte Macron and her daughter Tiphaine Auziere
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She said: "You have the really clear victims like my mother and the Princess of Wales, and then you have others who have been whipped up and muddled by the misinformation.
"I was so incredibly touched by Kate's video. I found it so moving. There she is, asking people to leave her alone so that she can get on with her medical treatment in peace.
"But it really touched me. I thought she was so brave to do that. Because in the end she was forced to do it; there was so much pressure.
"This, despite her having so many more important things to think about, yet everything was polluted with fake news, each piece of misinformation worse than the one before. It's the same kind of thing we went through, and I find those kinds of polemics grotesque, on the same level as being told we are all being governed by lizards."
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Kate shared her cancer diagnosis with the world via videoPA President Macron, 47, expressed his anger and frustration about continual speculation about Brigitte Macron, 70, whom he married in 2007. He called the rumours spread about his wife "false and fabricated."
Those spreading the rumours were Amandine Roy, 52, and Natacha Rey, 48, who styled herself as a freelance journalist. A judge sitting at Lisieux, in Normandy, originally fined the two women the equivalent of £1700 each, after finding them both guilty of libel.
Auziere said: "The law does have to intervene in instances like that.
"On a national level, it needs to condemn that kind of behaviour, and beyond that, on a European level, we need to think about what kind of legal arsenal people should have at their disposal."
France's President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron
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President Macron, speaking on International Women's Day on Friday, told reporters: "The worst thing is the false information and fabricated scenarios
"People eventually believe them and disturb you, even in your intimacy."
