Marine Le Pen was on a plane in Kenya when she learned of the death of her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, who died this Tuesday at the age of 96. The leader of the National Rally was returning from her trip to Mayotte but her plane landed in Nairobi for a technical stopover. It was then in fact journalists on board the aircraft who informed his team.
“We turned our phones back on at that moment and discovered the death of Jean-Marie Le Pen. We then headed towards the front of the plane where Marine Le Pen’s teams were located and I showed my phone to her press officer, who was unaware. This person then took a photo from my phone, to show it to Marine Le Pen,” said Pierrick Bonno, the francinfo journalist who was on board.
After a moment of “stupor”, according to her testimony, Marine Le Pen got up and isolated herself to telephone her loved ones.
About ten minutes later, it is specified, very moved and wiping away “a few tears”, she returned to her seat, next to Louis Aliot, her former companion and current mayor of Perpignan.
The plane should land in Paris around 11 p.m. But Marine Le Pen does not plan to speak on the death of her father, according to her team.
