AKIPRESS.COM - Emmanuel Macron's victory in the first round of the French election has sparked global interest in Brigitte Trogneux, the frontrunner's wife and former teacher.

Macron, now 39, met Trogneux, now 64, when he was in high school in the northern French city of Amiens. By the time he was 17, he said he would marry her.

But Macron's parents didn't approve of their son's romance with the teacher, who was married and had three children at the time. His father told Trogneux to back off until his son was at least 18, Reuters reported, citing a new book on the candidate.

"I cannot promise you anything," Trogneux tearfully replied, according to the book "Emmanuel Macron: A perfect young man" by Anne Fulda.

It's not clear when a serious romance began between the two.  "Nobody will ever know at what moment our story became a love story. That belongs to us. That is our secret," she was quoted as saying.

Macron eventually married his longtime love in 2007, after Trogneux was divorced. He was 29 at the time; she was 54. But he made sure to get the blessing of Trogneux's three adult children first.