Being a 'first spouse' isn't easy — here's how countries around the world handle it

Reuters/Charles Platiau

PARIS (AP) — A hullabaloo over the new French president's desire to formalize the role of France's first lady is a reminder that being married to a world leader isn't for timid types.

Below, read how some countries approach the issue — and how some first spouses have broken the shackles of protocol or retreated to the mountains to escape scrutiny.

 

 

 

 

 

Front and center

Associated Press/Evan Vucci

The United States sets the standard for first ladydom. America's first lady assumes a formal public role that comes with a White House office, but makes it impossible to maintain an ordinary lifestyle.

Michelle Obama left her job as a lawyer to campaign for healthier children. Melania Trump has kept a lower profile so far, but is expected to accompany her husband at major public events and summits.

Few other countries have such codified expectations.

While French first ladies have taken on an increasingly public role, a proposal by President Emmanuel Macron to grant a special budget to finance his wife's official activities has been met with an online petition of protest that is quickly gaining signatures.

Under the radar

Reuters/Andrew Medichini

In many countries, political spouses stay out of the public eye.

Greece doesn't seem to care that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's partner Peristera Pizania rarely appears at official events. Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's wife continued working as a schoolteacher in Tuscany while he was in office. Wives of Spanish prime ministers only make the news when they go into politics themselves.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is single — but even if he were coupled up, his compatriots might not notice, since Dutch politicians tend to keep their private lives out of the public sphere.

Lose-lose situation

Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch

It's often difficult however to find the right balance between public action and a private life, especially for presidential wives scrutinized on social media for what they wear as much as what they do or say.

The wife of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Elke Buedenbender, stopped working as a judge out of concern for judicial independence. One of her predecessors, Bettina Wulff, published a book complaining about the role.

The position of first lady in Romania remains sensitive due to the legacy of Elena Ceausescu, who had a major role during the discredited communist regime of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Her successors have been expected to remain discreet and quietly supportive instead.

Current Romanian first lady Carmen Iohannis was subjected to a barrage of criticism for clothes deemed too daring for a president's wife, and for holidays deemed too glamorous.

She now lives in the couple's home city of Sibiu and is rarely seen in public. The Iohannis no longer go on foreign vacations and instead go hiking in Romania's Carpathians.

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