Dipping into taxpayers' money: President Macron orders a new swimming pool to be built just a few feet from his private beach

  • The president will install the pool in the gardens of Fort Bregancon, near Toulon
  • Previous presidents have complained about people gawping at their retreat  
  • Macron hopes to have new pool installed in time for summer holiday in August
  • Pool installation comes amid furore over tax cuts for the wealthy in France 

Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte on a visit to India. The couple have decided to install a new swimming pool a few feet away from their private beach

Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte on a visit to India. The couple have decided to install a new swimming pool a few feet away from their private beach

Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron have ordered a new swimming pool to be installed a few feet from their private beach - so as to avoid people taking pictures of them sea swimming.

The Elysee Palace confirmed the five figure expenditure at the Riviera retreat where France's presidential couple will spend their summer break.

It also confirmed that the French taxpayer would be paying for the new swimming pool. 

The Marie Antoinette-style act of indulgence comes at a time when the head of state is fighting accusations that he has become 'The President of the Rich'.

Mr Macron, 40, and his 65-year-old wife will install the pool in the gardens of Fort Bregancon, which is on the Mediterranean coast close to Toulon, and has been the official retreat of the French president since 1968.

This is because previous presidents have complained about people gawping and paparazzi taking pictures while they sunbathe or swim off Bregancon's private beach.

The Macrons spent three days there in May, when they decided to install the new pool on the rocky island, which is linked to the mainland by a causeway.

'It will probably be an above-ground pool,' said an Elysee Palace spokesman, saying digging into the Bregancon rock would be extremely difficult.

 Fort de Bregancon has been the official retreat of the French president since 1968 and is linked to the mainland by a causeway

 Fort de Bregancon has been the official retreat of the French president since 1968 and is linked to the mainland by a causeway

President Macron and his wife want the private pool to stop people taking pictures of them swimming in the sea 

President Macron and his wife want the private pool to stop people taking pictures of them swimming in the sea 

The spokesman said installation would be 'fast and certainly in time for this year's holiday.. We don't know the cost at this stage, but it must be reasonable.'

At present 'anyone can use a boat to aim a telephoto leans at the president', said the spokesman. 

'He therefore ordered a study to test the feasibility of a swimming pool.'

With installation and maintenance, free standing swimming pools cost upwards of £10,000, and in many cases closer to £100,000.

Socialist president Francois Hollande, Mr Macron's predecessor and former boss, was pictured in his shorts on the Bregancon beach with his then bikini-clad girlfriend Valerie Trierweiler in 2012.

Nicholas Sarkozy, the former conservative head of state, and his third wife, the model and pop singer Carla Bruni, were also regularly snapped on the Bregancon beach.

Visitors in the courtyard of Fort Bregancon, which is on the Mediterranean coast close to Toulon

Visitors in the courtyard of Fort Bregancon, which is on the Mediterranean coast close to Toulon

The Sarkozys were often criticised for their high-living, with Ms Bruni in particular being likened to Queen Marie-Antoinette, who was finally guillotined during the French Revolution after allegedly suggesting that poor people without bread should 'eat cake'.

The Macrons are, however, the first presidential couple to take action by ordering a new pool for a property so close to a beach in time for their August holiday.

'President of the Rich' headlines are now regularly published by French media outlets.

Mr Macron has slashed taxes for the better off, and made it far easier for bosses to hire and fire workers - leading hundreds of thousands of protestors to take to the street.

MP Francois Ruffin said to Mr Macron: 'It's you who is going after the poor to give to the rich,' while leading French economist Thomas Piketty said the president's policies amounted to a'heavy moral, economic, and historical sin'. 

The living room of Fort Bregancon, where the President and his wife spent three days in May and where they will also have their August holiday 

The living room of Fort Bregancon, where the President and his wife spent three days in May and where they will also have their August holiday 

The dining room of the presidential retreat. The Elysee Palace confirmed that a five figure sum will be spent on building a swimming pool there 

The dining room of the presidential retreat. The Elysee Palace confirmed that a five figure sum will be spent on building a swimming pool there 

Mrs Macron, a retired drama teacher, is also spending £90,000 in taxpayers' money on renovating the Elysee Palace to her own tastes.

She recently ordered around £45,000 to be spent on a new 1200 piece, porcelain dinner set for the presidential home in Paris.

The rest of the money will go on artwork and furnishings that are approved by Mrs Macron, whose title of first lady is not an official one.

An artistic director to the palace said she had been asked to provide 'contemporary art objects, contemporary tapestries, contemporary furniture.'

Mrs Macron is also known for her hugely expensive designer clothes. She is particularly close to designers such as Karl Lagerfeld, and favours Louis Vuitton dresses.

Mr Macron himself is also acting in a far grander manner than before.

During a walkabout in the Paris suburbs on Tuesday, the President snapped at a schoolboy who addressed him by abbreviating the name Emmanuel, saying: 'All right Manu?'

Mr Macron said the teenager should show more respect, and call him 'Mr President or Sir.'