"The idyll that no one expected" proclaims the front page headline when the weekly magazine Paris-Match goes big to tell the story of the love affair that all of France is now talking about.
"Their elegance stands out... Jeans for him, with a navy sweater, shirt and tie... tight-fitting blouse for her, light heels and high-waisted trousers that hug her perfect figure," the magazine writes, impressed.
He is Jordan Bardella - the 30-year-old party leader of the National Rally (RN) and a conceivable candidate, in a year's time, for French prime minister or even president.
She is Maria Carolina of Bourbon and the Two Sicilies - a 22-year-old model and influencer and the eldest daughter of the heir and pretender to the throne of the dormant Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily.
Support from Arnault?
The publication comes at a time when the National Rally's long-time figurehead Marine Le Pen is still waiting for a court ruling to determine whether or not she can run in the presidential election. If she is stopped, Jordan Bardella is likely to be the main favorite in the April 2027 vote.
The fact that he and his girlfriend are now appearing in Paris-Match is also seen as a clear sign of support from the newspaper's owner, Bernard Arnault.
"Arnault decides everything and here he has decided to normalize the far right," one of the newspaper's journalists says anonymously to the television channel France Info.
Arnault is France's richest man, chairman and CEO of luxury giant LVMH, with brands such as Moët & Chandon, Louis Vuitton, Dior and Hennessy.
Dinner with Le Pen
Arnault and a number of other big businessmen have also recently had a fine dinner with Marine Le Pen - a sign that big business is preparing for the National Rally to come to power.
"We need to talk to them now so that the next president of France is aware of what awaits him or her when he or she arrives at the Élysée Palace," a business executive explained anonymously to the newspaper Le Figaro.
Last week's dinner will be followed by a lunch with Bardella on Monday.
Not all companies are happy, however. The CEO of one of the largest companies on the Paris Stock Exchange warns that France's market image will be shattered if the National Rally takes power.
"We must do everything we can to prevent the far right from taking power," the CEO tells Le Figaro anonymously.
Marine Le Pen (born 1968) took over the far-right National Front party - renamed the National Rally in 2021 - from her father and the party founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen, in 2011. Le Pen came second to Emmanuel Macron in the last two presidential elections in 2017 and 2022, but has been disqualified from running in next year's election for now after being convicted in court of fraud involving EU subsidies.
Jordan Bardella (born 1995) took over as party leader from Le Pen in 2021. He has been in the European Parliament since 2019, where he is group leader of the far-right PFE group, which also includes Hungarian Fidesz, Dutch PVV and Danish People's Party, among others. If Le Pen is allowed to run and wins the presidential election, she is expected to appoint Bardella as prime minister.
