Emmanuel Macron's reaction to wife appearing to 'slap' him on plane speaks volumes, expert claims

A body language expert has assessed footage of Emmanuel Macron seemingly being 'slapped' by wife Brigitte, and believes the French President's reaction is very telling.

For those out of the loop with the domestic scandal, a video went viral earlier this week of the couple stepping off their private plane as it landed in Hanoi, Vietnam for the first leg of their South East Asia tour.

The trip marks the both Macron's first to Vietnam in his powerful position, and the first of any French president in over 10 years, meaning it's a pretty big deal.

The beginnings of their tour seems to have been somewhat tainted already, however, by footage that appears to show 72-year-old Brigitte throwing a hand in the face of her husband before they disembarked the aircraft.

A body language expert has spoken out about the clip (LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images)

In the controversial clip - which has since been shared by the BBC - the couple stand by while staff open the plane door.

While awaiting for the staircase to be readied, however, Brigitte's red blazer-clad arm suddenly comes into view, appearing to shove the President in the face. Macron, 47, appears to be initially dismayed by the incident, before waving to the crowd awaiting him.

He then exits from view again, heading in his wife's direction. The pair later descend onto the runway.

Macron - who has been married to Brigitte since 2007 - later told reporters the pair had simply been joking around, with France24 reporting he said: "We are horsing around and, really, joking with my wife."

The politician added: "It becomes a sort of geo-planetary catastrophe."

Macron's office also issued a statement on the matter, telling press: "It was a moment where the president and his wife were decompressing one last time before the start of the trip by horsing around.

"It’s a moment of complicity. It was all that was needed to give ammunition to the conspiracy theorists."

Macron later addressed the 'slap' (LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images)

As we say, however, a body language expert has since reassessed the footage, and believes it was far from fun and games for Macron.

Human behaviour pro Judi James told The Mail yesterday: "I would not describe the gesture we saw from inside the plane as one of 'play' as has been claimed.

"Pushing your partner in the face with your hand so hard their head reels to the side and they need to put a hand out to keep balance, especially with what looks like an extra 'shove' at the end of the contact, should not be normalised by calling it 'fun' just to save political face."

She went on to predict: "This will inevitably be turned into a 'joke' by some people but I would call it genuinely shocking and I would say the same if it was any other couple walking down any street, no matter who did it to who.

"There is no follow-up shared laughter, grins or teasing rituals, Macron performs a 'think-on-your-feet' wave before stepping back in towards his wife, but he seems to touch his face too, in a checking gesture."

James went on to point out: "If this had been his hand and her face would it have been called 'playful'? So it should not from her to him."

The pair began their tour of Asia this week (LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images)

And by the sounds of it, social media spectators are in agreement with the body language expert.

Resharing the controversial clip, one critic hit out: "Okay, but did you guys SEE @EmmanuelMacron's wife literally push his face like she was swatting a fly?

"Like she thought she was invisible or something and Macron just laughed it off, shaking hands like, ‘No big deal, just got publicly slapped by my wife, move along'."

Another noted: "A hand emerges from a red jacket and slaps the president. This isn’t a comedy sketch - it’s Macron and Brigitte’s official arrival in Vietnam."

Tyla contacted Macron's representatives regarding James' comments.