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Woman Made the Honest Mistake of Thinking Angela Merkel Was Emmanuel Macron’s Wife

1 minute read

An earnest 101-year-old woman accidentally confused German chancellor Angela Merkel for French First Lady Brigitte Macron during a ceremony that honored the French-German reconciliation and the 1918 armistice of World War I.

Chancellor Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron‘s cordial demeanor was so friendly that one elderly French bystander who shook their hands mistook Merkel for Macron’s wife Brigitte.

“Mr Macron, it’s not possible, a little woman like me shaking hands with the President of the Republic, it’s fantastic,” the centenarian said to the French president before turning to Merkel and addressing her as “Madame Macron.

Merkel then told her that she was “the Chancellor of Germany;” according to the Independent, Merkel explained her title to the woman twice, in French.

Evidently the woman did not have anything to say to these statements, besides exclaiming: “it’s fantastic.”

Watch the full confusion of Chancellor Angela Merkel with First Lady Brigitte Macron below.

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Write to Cady Lang at cady.lang@timemagazine.com