Mimi Marchand was furious, and she made her displeasure known all the way to the top of LVMH, the luxury group owned by billionaire Bernard Arnault that also holds Paris Match. The “paparazzi queen” of Paris prides herself on being able to block embarrassing photos in exchange for meticulously controlled exclusivity when the time is right. But she discovered the shots of Jordan Bardella, the 30-year-old president of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party, and Maria Carolina of Bourbon Two-Sicilies, a 22-year-old princess and fashion and luxury student at the International University of Monaco, at the same time as everyone: when they were published on the cover of the weekly magazine on Thursday, April 9. “Operation Bardella” got away from her. In a sign of the far-right leader’s popularity – he is top of the polls for the 2027 presidential election, with higher ratings than his mentor Marine Le Pen, and his two books were bestsellers – the story created something of a political and media sensation.
Bardella had sought to control the officialization of his relationship, which has become public very early in the carefully managed calendar ahead of next year’s election. Did the couple notice the presence of a paparazzo in Corsica and wearily let him do as he pleased? Or did they choose a photographer in advance to stage the scene themselves? The outlets of billionaire Vincent Bolloré’s media empire claimed these were genuine “stolen photos.” But on Saturday, contradicting them, Bardella’s former press attaché, MP Caroline Parmentier, explained on Europe 1 radio that the Paris Match cover had been “a way to avoid being paparazzied with ugly or awful photos.” She praised “the courage” of the young Italian woman who, according to her, “agreed” to the arrangement.
Let’s rewind. On Friday, April 3, Jérôme Béglé, the editor-in-chief of Paris Match, informed the magazine’s owners that he had obtained photos of the discreet president of the RN and the princess (of a kingdom that disappeared in 1861, the Two Sicilies). Béglé got LVMH’s green light. All the photos had been taken in Ajaccio, Corsica, seemingly on the preceding Wednesday or Thursday.
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