Not to rile up protesters? France's Macron removes luxury watch during interview

Emmanuel Macron News: In the interview, the French president vowed to go ahead with plans to hike the pension age from 62 to 64.

French president Emmanuel Macron appeared to remove his luxury watch during a television interview about his government's pension reforms which have sparked massive protests across the country. During the interview, Emmanuel Macron was seen briefly putting his hands beneath the table and taking off his watch.

Emmanuel Macron News: Emmanuel Macron is seen during the interview.

In the interview, the French president vowed to go ahead with plans to hike the pension age from 62 to 64. Opposition politicians criticised Emmanuel Macron's removing of the watch saying that the “president of the rich has never lived up to his name so well”.

His office however said that the French president had not removed the watch “in order to hide it” but “because it was clinking against the table”.

“The noise is clearly audible only a few seconds before the beginning of the video shared on social media,” the presidential palace said slamming claims about the watch's cost as “a perfect example of fake news”.

This comes as protests continued in France even forcing King Charles III to cancel a state visit as grafitti reading “Death to the King” and “Charles III do you know the guillotine?” was seen. Following the protests, Emmanuel Macron's approval rating has fallen to just 28 per cent, its lowest level since the height of the Yellow Vest protests in the country in 2018.