The year 2024 on the cover of Match

A special year

Before rediscovering the notable covers of the last twelve months, let us clarify in preamble that the year 2024 was not insignificant for us. Paris Match celebrated its 75th anniversary last March. Three quarters of a century after its creation, our magazine remains faithful to a resolutely modern recipe: that of showing its readers, in a shock of photos and weighty words, the world as it is, with its dramas and its lightness. , its fairy tales and its sad realities, with its stars, its heroes, its bastards. A “magazine that you don’t leave on the train,” said Gaston Bonheur, one of its founding fathers. Paris Match, forever the album of the French.

A flagship France…

And in the French album, this chapter will have a very special place. For the first time in exactly a century, Paris hosted the Olympic Games. Some predicted a failure, reflecting the worst supposed faults of our country: poorly organized, unwelcoming and not really festive… It was quite the opposite. France shone and not only with the gold of its athletes. From its daring opening ceremony to this capital which has become the most beautiful stadium in the world, from its volunteers to its inhabitants, our country has shown its most beautiful face. And it's not just the planet that was seduced: France offered itself a carefree break, a ray of sunshine in a gloomy summer and a chilling time.

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And it wasn't just for the Olympics that the world came to us. France welcomed friendly nations for the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, but especially for the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris. The fire of the venerable cathedral shocked the world in 2019. Its restoration, in just five years, garnered admiration and respect from around the world for our artisans.

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…and a disoriented France

But this international influence has its counterpart, that of chaotic domestic politics. Embarrassed by a wobbly majority at the Palais Bourbon and by his failure in the European elections, Emmanuel Macron has drawn up an improbable dissolution. As a result, the Assembly is more divided than ever and the country seems ungovernable. Matignon is indeed a hotel, with four tenants this year (Élisabeth Borne, Gabriel Attal, Michel Barnier and François Bayrou). A shame for this supposedly stable Fifth Republic. And during this time, anger is brewing, like a peasant world already bruised and even more abandoned by the European agreement with Mercosur.

Trump, le comeback

Between Ukraine, Gaza and Syria, international news was of course dominated by the re-election of Donald Trump. At the end of a campaign marked by a spectacular assassination attempt, the 45th American president became the 47th. Even when changing candidates, the Democrats were never able to stand up to the Republican's populist rhetoric. And Trump's return to business is expected to dominate the scene again internationale in 2025: from his policy (and that of his supporters like Elon Musk) a new global balance will result.

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The nobility of royal families

At Buckingham, the tone has changed. Prince Harry's whims no longer interest many people. King Charles is battling cancer. Her beloved daughter-in-law, Kate, is also battling the same illness. Family vaudeville has given way to anxiety. Resilience too, the first quality of the Windsors. United with Camilla and William, they face each other, admirable and discreet, smiling and conscientious, modest and responsible.

Two other couples were able to show this humility. In Spain, Felipe and Letizia listened to the anger of their people, victims of bad weather. And in Monaco, Albert and Charlène spoke about the challenges they were able to face together.

Confidences for confidences

In this area, Paris Match remains the best confidant of the big stars. From Carole Bouquet to Patrick Bruel, from Mylène Farmer to Brigitte Bardot… Many stars have chosen our magazine exclusively to confide in them.

Among the confidences, three are particularly touching, those of the families of Alain Delon, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Johnny Hallyday, who tell us about their internal heartbreaks…

Our missing

The cover is the most beautiful tribute that our magazine can pay to a great deceased personality. Like the last chapter of a novel that, over the years, has been written in our pages. This year, Bernard Pivot, Françoise Hardy, Alain Delon and Michel Blanc notably said their goodbyes on the front page…

love always

There is death, of course, but there is love, always. And this year, three pretty couples made the cover of our magazine: Charlotte Casiraghi and Nicolas Mathieu, Adriana Karembeu and Marc Lavoine, Sophie Davant and William Leymergie

Céline's Christmas present

Finally, this year 2024 will have offered us two beautiful stories of rebirth. First with Kendji Girac, a sunny singer whose luminous smile hid a great fragility.

But the most beautiful comeback is that of Céline Dion, victim of stiff person syndrome. “How am I going to get back on stage? » she said in June… only to shock the entire planet in July with the most beautiful performance at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. And offer for our last issue of the year, a magnificent Christmas gift: the announcement of his return to the stage, in Paris, in 2026.