Jordan Bardella at the Grand-Palais during the bicentennial of 'Le Figaro' newspaper, Paris, January 13, 2026. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
What game is Jordan Bardella playing? Why did he appear alongside the Italian heiress of a "royal" family, among the wealthiest of the international jet set, during a party that brought together Paris's elite on Tuesday, January 13, at the Grand Palais? What message did the president of France's far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party intend to send by leaving an event under the glare of cameras with Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies?
Bardella claims to be the voice "of a forgotten people" and the "authentic spokesperson for a France despised by the elites," yet in appearing in public with the heiress to a fortune worth several hundred million euros – at a time when angry farmers are descending upon Paris –his choice has not gone unnoticed. The closeness between the two even made the front page of Italian daily newspaper's La Repubblica's website on Friday.
Under the blue-hued nave of the Grand Palais, among the crowd of guests and the faces of Le Figaro's leading writers projected on the walls, the young representative of the French far right drew a great deal of attention that evening. For its 200th anniversary, the conservative French paper pulled out all the stops: business leaders and prominent figures from the economic, cultural and intellectual worlds, as well as current and former presidents like Emmanuel Macron, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, current and former ministers and more, were present.
