French President Emmanuel Macron’s three-day state visit to the United Kingdom opened on 8 July with an awkward moment caught on video at RAF Northolt in west London. As the presidential couple disembarked, First Lady Brigitte Macron declined the president’s outstretched hand, choosing instead to steady herself on the handrail and proceed down the aircraft steps alone. President Macron let his hand fall before greeting the Prince and Princess of Wales, who were waiting to receive the visitors. The Macrons later travelled to Windsor Castle for a carriage procession with King Charles III and Queen Camilla, kicking off Mr. Macron’s first trip to Britain since 2008. The itinerary also includes talks in Downing Street with Prime Minister Keir Starmer on defence and economic cooperation, underscoring Paris’s effort to reset relations with London after Brexit. The brief tarmac exchange has drawn widespread attention because it recalls a May 2025 episode in Vietnam in which Mrs. Macron was filmed pushing her husband’s face as they left a plane, a gesture the Élysée Palace described as harmless horseplay. While the latest incident is unlikely to derail the diplomatic agenda, it has once again shifted public focus from policy to the couple’s body language during high-profile foreign engagements.