France’s first lady has revealed how she thought her husband Emmanuel Macron would fall in love with someone his own age after he was sent away to boarding school as a teenager for pursuing his teacher. The president was 15 when he fell for Brigitte Macron, then a 39-year-old drama teacher at the Catholic Providence school in Amiens, in northern France. The schoolboy’s parents had believed their son was dating his teacher’s daughter, Laurence, until the truth came out through a family friend. Shocked at the illicit affair, the Macrons removed their teenager from the school and sent him to boarding school in Paris. In an interview with Paris Match magazine, Ms Macron said she thought Emmanuel would move on when he was sent to Paris. But while his parents hoped distance would cool the burning embers of passion, the young Emmanuel vowed to marry the former Ms Auziere and held fast to his oath. “For me, such a young boy was crippling. Emmanuel had to leave for Paris. I told myself that he would fall in love with someone his [own] age. It didn’t happen,” Ms Macron said. The couple, who have a 24-year age gap, married in 2007. Becoming a very youthful stepfather at the age of 29 to Brigitte’s three adult children, he told them at the wedding reception: “Thanks for accepting us, a not-quite-normal couple.” Ms Macron said her children were the “obstacle” that caused her to wait a decade before marrying Emmanuel. She said: “I took time so I would not wreck their lives. That lasted 10 years, the time to put them on the rails. You can imagine what they were hearing. But I didn’t want to miss out on my life.” Mr Macron became France’s youngest ever president at the age of 39 – the same age that his wife, now 64, was when they met. Praising her husband, the first lady said his sharp intellect still surprises her every day. She said: “I have never seen such a memory ... such an intellectual capacity. I had many brilliant pupils, and none had his capability. I have always admired him.” Many commentators have said the obsession with their age gap is an example of deeply ingrained misogyny, since men in positions of power are frequently married to much younger women. Read More EU commission to prolong use of glyphosate for 10 more years after member countries fail to agree King’s busy coronation year of milestones and royal tours Somber bugles and bells mark Armistice Day around the globe as wars drown out peace messages Watch as Macron commemorates anniversary of First World War Armistice in Paris Growing concerns from allies over Israel's approach to fighting Hamas as civilian casualties mount Watch view over Israel-Gaza border as thousands continue to flee

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The bizarre response of Rex Heuermann’s wife to news of his arrest in the Gilgo Beach murders has been revealed amid reports that she has filed for divorce. Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said during a sit-down interview with Fox News that Mr Heuermann’s wife Asa Ellerup had initially been shocked after learning her husband was linked to the murders of three women whose bodies were discovered in Gilgo Beach back in 2010. “When we told the wife, she was shocked, she was embarrassed. But there was a point where we showed her certain pictures and she said, ‘OK, it is what it is,’” Mr Harrison said in the interview that aired on Thursday. It comes as online court records show that Ms Ellerup, who has been married to the accused serial killer’s wife for two decades, filed a matrimonial complaint in Suffolk County Supreme Court. The filing – titled Asa Ellerup v Rex Heuermann – states that the divorce is “uncontested”. The case records include a complaint, summons and a “notice concerning continuation of health care coverage” all filed on Wednesday, though the contents have not been made public. The couple have two adult children, who lived with them at a home in Massapequa Park, roughly five miles from the Gilgo Beach crime scenes. Ms Ellerup is said to have been “disgusted” when she learned that her husband had been arrested and charged with three of the string of unsolved killings that have haunted Long Island for more than a decade. He is also the prime suspect in a fourth murder. Shocking court documents, released by Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office last week, revealed that her hair had been found on the bodies of three of the four victims – but that she was out of town on each of the occasions that her husband allegedly struck. Ms Ellerup’s attorney Bob Macedonio told Fox News Digital outside Suffolk County Jail that she had filed for divorce after her life was “turned upside-down” by her husband’s alleged actions. “This is all still a whirlwind,” he said. “Her and her children’s lives have been completely turned upside-down.” Mr Heuermann has an adult daughter and stepson with Ms Ellerup. Their daughter worked at her father’s architecture business with him in Manhattan. Mr Macedonio said that police carried out a coordinated raid on the family home in Massapeua Park on Thursday night at the same time that they arrested Mr Heuermann as he left his office in Midtown Manhattan. He was charged with three counts of murder in the first degree and three in the second degree over the deaths of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Costello. He is also the prime suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes – who together with the three is known as the “Gilgo Beach Four” and was last seen alive in early June 2007 in New York City. The four women were found within one-quarter mile of each other, bound by belts or tape and some wrapped in burlap. He pleaded not guilty to the charges as he appeared in court on 14 July and was ordered to be held without bond. Ms Ellerup and her two adult children were informed about the accusations against him and had their passports, computers, phones and iPads seized as police swooped on their home, her attorney said. “They were home and the cops came in, and they were completely blindsided, and they told them what was going on,” he said. Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison revealed on Monday that the arrest of Mr Heuermann appeared to catch his loved ones totally off guard. “When we initially informed them about their husband, their father, they were shocked,” he said. “They were disgusted — they were embarrassed.” Court documents, filed as part of prosecutors’ request that bail be denied, revealed that hair belonging to Mr Heuermann’s wife was allegedly found on the bodies of three of the four victims. Prosecutors say that two female hairs had been found on Waterman, one of them on the tape which the killer wrapped around her head. One female hair was found on tape used to wrap burlap around Costello and one hair was found in a belt buckle used to bind Brainard-Barnes – who Mr Heuermann is yet to be charged over. To identify the female who the hair belonged to, investigators trawled through the trash at the Heuermann home in Long Island. In July 2022, they recovered 11 bottles from the trash and they were swabbed for DNA. Forensic testing found that the DNA on the bottles matched the female hair found at the crime scene, concluding that the hair belonged to Mr Heuermann’s wife. The accuracy is such that more than 99 per cent of the North American female population can be ruled out, according to the court documents. Prosecutors found that the suspect’s wife was out of town at the time of the three murders for which he has been charged but that her hair could have transferred to the crime scene through her husband’s clothing or through him using items such as tape taken from the family home. She has not been named as a suspect and there is no suggestion that she was involved – or knew about – the murders. As well as his wife’s DNA, Mr Heuermann’s DNA was also found on one of the victims – tied to him through a discarded pizza crust. Mr Heuermann was also linked to the killings through a pimp’s tip about his pickup truck, a stash of burner phones, “sadistic” online searches and phone calls taunting victims’ families. Investigators continue to comb through the family home for evidence – including body parts and trophies taken from the victims – as well as storage units connected to him two miles away in Amityville. So far, a trove of around 200 guns have been seized as well as his pickup truck. Over in South Carolina, police seized the pickup truck at the centre of the murder investigation from his brother’s home this week. Mr Heuermann owns a property in Chester next to his brother Craig. The Chester County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that it “was requested by the Gilgo Beach Task Force to assist in gathering evidence in Chester County relevant to their investigation” – as law enforcement agencies are now also looking into unsolved murders and missing persons cases all across America. A Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson told The Independent on Tuesday that they are reviewing unsolved murders and missing persons cases around Sin City after becoming aware that the suspect owns a time share property in the area. “We are aware of Rex Heuermann’s connection to Las Vegas. We are currently reviewing our unsolved cases to see if he has any involvement,” the department said. The horrific serial killer case has captured the nation’s attention for more than a decade. The Gilgo Beach murders had long stumped law enforcement officials in Suffolk County who believed it could be the work of one or more serial killers who targeted sex workers and dumped their bodies along the remote beaches on Ocean Parkway. The case began in May 2010 when Shannan Gilbert vanished after leaving a client’s house on foot near Gilgo Beach. She called 911 for help saying she feared for her life and was never seen alive again. During a search for Gilbert in dense thicket close to the beach, police discovered the remains of another woman. Within a matter of days, the remains of three more victims were found close by. By spring 2011, the remains of a total of 10 victims had been found including eight women, a man, and a toddler. Police have long thought that it could be the work of one or more serial killers. Gilbert’s body was then found in December 2011. Her cause of death is widely contested with authorities long claiming that it is not connected to the serial killer or killers but that she died from accidental drowning as she fled from the client’s home. However, an independent autopsy commissioned by her family ruled that she died by strangulation and her mother believes she was murdered. Like Gilbert, most of the victims targeted were sex workers while some are yet to be identified. Read More Gilgo Beach murders – live: Rex Heuermann’s wife files for divorce as work at NYC Trump building emerges Pizza crust, burner phones and his wife’s hair: How Long Island police tied Rex Heuermann to the Gilgo Beach murders Rex Heuermann’s wife ‘didn’t talk to anyone’ in Long Island community, neighbour says

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Kyle Walker recalls the pain and it wasn’t the kind many a left winger has experienced when they have found themselves in a race against him, legs burning as Manchester City and England’s roadrunner accelerated past them. This was the sense of rejection. Pep Guardiola had recalibrated his team, altered the role of the right-back and the footballer who had played more times in defence for the Catalan than anyone else was suddenly deemed redundant. “He cannot do it,” Guardiola said bluntly. “Did it hurt? Of course it did,” Walker reflected. “I can’t sit here and lie to you and say it didn’t hurt. Of course it did. You start to doubt yourself but you have to go back to basics to what you are good at, what he bought you for and prove him wrong and that is what I have done. Sometimes certain opinions in football, you don’t always agree with, but for what he has done for me and for Man City in the last six years, has been nothing short of tremendous.” Some six weeks after Guardiola’s damning appraisal, it may be no exaggeration to say his chances of winning his third, and City’s first, Champions League rest with Walker. He has been recalled, restored to prominence, summoned for a specialist task. Guardiola could reinvent Walker’s friend John Stones as part full-back, part midfielder, but there are jobs that call for an out-and-out defender. Walker seems the man for the unenviable assignment. He was Kylian Mbappe’s direct opponent in a World Cup quarter-final, Gabriel Martinelli’s in a Premier League title decider and Vinicius Junior’s in twin Champions League ties. Stop Vinicius and City may be bound for Istanbul. But then, as Trent Alexander-Arnold can testify from bitter experience, halting him can border on the impossible. Walker sounded unfazed. “Obviously it is a personal battle where you are coming up against one of the best players in the world but I have faced many over the years who have been just as good as him,” he said. “But I think he is in the best form of his life.” That was demonstrated in the Bernabeu last week when the Brazilian scored a superlative goal; Walker was blameless for it, however, and acquitted himself well. Carlo Ancelotti, rarely one for hyperbole, branded Vinicius the world’s best player after his evisceration of Liverpool. The same description could be applied to another Walker went mano a mano with. “Like Mbappe when I played him in the World Cup, you have to give him respect they deserve but you are not going to say, ‘Go on, walk through and score,’” Walker said. “I am representing Manchester City, the ambition for this club is massive so if I can’t compete with these top players from Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea or whoever, I shouldn’t be here, I shouldn’t be sat in this chair talking to you, I need to make sure I come against the best and I can deal with the best.” He embraced Vinicius after the first leg, a gesture of admiration that came with a warning. “I went to hug him because he tried to rainbow flick me, so it was like, ‘please don’t try that again – I don’t want to become a meme,’” he explained. The Brazilian has a reputation as an agent provocateur but Walker sounded unworried. “If someone is trash talking, it doesn’t really bother me,” he insisted. “I have been through things in my life that are more difficult than people trying to wind me up and get a reaction out of me. We’ve seen a few clips of him going down easily and asking for yellow cards but it’s part and parcel of the game. Let’s not take his football away, he’s a top player.” So there may be another hug. “I will give him the respect he deserves [after the final whistle], but before then it is dog eat dog,” he said. Or, perhaps, dog race dog. There is a timelessness to Walker. Apart from back-up goalkeeper Scott Carson, he is the oldest player in the City squad, just as he has been England’s oldest in their last two tournaments. He will turn 33 on the final day of the Premier League season and yet the years have not blunted his pace. “I am not old,” he argued. “I still feel great, I still feel fit. I probably have to say a big thanks to my mum and dad for the genetics. Some players do start to slow down, but I think one of the lads in sports science said I hit 37.5 [kilometres per hour] the other day in the speed thing.” He is not City’s only sprinter. Training at City does not consist of 100m races, but one would be worth watching. The 52-goal forward Erling Haaland has got the better of many an opposing defender this season. A teammate reckons he could beat him. “Both of us take a bit of time to get up to speed, but I think Erling is very, very quick,” Walker said. “But I’d still have to back myself...” Read More Only Vinicius Jr has the key to shape semi-final - even if Man City dominate Kyle Walker insists players ‘owe’ Champions League title to Sheikh Mansour The six types of Pep Guardiola full-back, and what each says about Man City Football rumours: Bayern Munich willing to offload Sadio Mane this summer Luton Town one game from Premier League after comeback win over Sunderland Inter Milan have already made it clear how they can win the Champions League

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