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Penelope Kathryn Fillon (née Clarke, 31 July 1955) is the Welsh wife of French former politician
François Fillon François Charles Amand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a French retired politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of The Republicans (previously known as the Union ...
. She was the Spouse of the
Prime Minister of France The prime minister of France (), officially the prime minister of the French Republic (''Premier ministre de la République française''), is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of its Council of Ministers. The prime ...
from 17 May 2007 to 10 May 2012. Born and raised in Wales, Fillon is a graduate of the
University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
and the University of Bristol Law School. She worked as an English teacher at a secondary school in France in the late 1970s, where she met her future husband. François and Penelope Fillon married in 1980 and have five children. They are
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. Throughout her husband's political career, she has remained fairly uninvolved in national politics and has mostly stayed out of the public eye, and has been labelled "discreet" by the media. Despite her reputation as being private, Fillon ran for a seat on the municipal council of the Solesmes, Sarthe commune in which she and her husband reside. When François Fillon began running for the French presidency in 2017, she emerged in the public eye to campaign for her husband. Penelope Fillon rose to prominence in January 2017, when French newspaper ''
Le Canard enchaîné (; English: "The Chained Duck" or "The Chained Paper", as is French slang meaning "newspaper") is a satirical weekly newspaper in France. Its headquarters is in Paris. Founded in 1915 during World War I, it features investigative journalism ...
'' published an article in which she was accused of being paid €500,000 in public money over eight years as her husband's "assistant" while performing no or very little work. The public outcry that followed led the controversy to be labelled " Penelopegate" by some, despite her husband denying any wrongdoing.


Biography


Early life and education

Penelope Kathryn Clarke was born on 31 July 1955 in
Llanover Llanover (; ; ) is a village in the community of Goetre Fawr in Monmouthshire, Wales. Name The name of the village derives from an earlier Welsh form ''Llanfyfor'', made up of ''llan'' 'enclosure, church' and the personal name ''Myfor''. Lo ...
, Monmouthshire,
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
, United Kingdom. The daughter of George "Colin" Clarke, an English solicitor, and Glenys, a Wales native, she considers herself "Anglo-Welsh." Fillon attended primary and secondary school at King Henry VIII School in
Abergavenny Abergavenny (; , , archaically , ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a "Gateway to Wales"; it is approximately from the England–Wales border, border with England and is loca ...
, studying French, German, and English. She went on to attend
University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
, earning a degree in French and German. She spent her final year before earning her degree as a teaching assistant of English at a middle school in
Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...
, France. It was there she met
François Fillon François Charles Amand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a French retired politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of The Republicans (previously known as the Union ...
for the first time. She described the encounter in 2007:
"I was invited to a dinner and he was there. Of course I remember the dinner but, no, it wasn't a particularly heart-stopping moment."
Fillon continued her education at the
University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...
, earning a degree in law. She intended to become a lawyer like her father, and qualified as a solicitor. Rather than starting her career, however, she decided to pursue her relationship with François. She described her choice:
"He would come over on the ferry and the night train to see me. Then when I finished my Law Society exams we decided to get married and I came to live in France, accepting that it would be for good."
Penelope Clarke married François Fillon on 28 June 1980 in a civil ceremony in the groom's native
Sarthe Sarthe () is a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire, and the province of Maine, situated in the '' Grand-Ouest'' of the country. It is named after the river Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers. It ha ...
. The religious ceremony was held in the 17th-century St Bartholomew's Church in the bride's native village of Llanover. Shortly after, François's brother Pierre, and Penelope's sister Jane also married.


Career and political activity

Shortly after their marriage, François and Penelope moved to Paris. In 1981, they relocated to her husband's home region of Sarthe. While her husband pursued his political career three days a week in Paris, Fillon remained at home with their growing family. For much of her husband's political career, Fillon stayed home to care for their five children, and when François was a government minister, the family resided in an apartment in Paris's
6th arrondissement The 6th arrondissement of Paris (''VIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ''le sixième''. The arrondissement, called Luxembourg in a reference to the seat of ...
. When he was elected
Prime Minister of France The prime minister of France (), officially the prime minister of the French Republic (''Premier ministre de la République française''), is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of its Council of Ministers. The prime ...
in 2007, the family moved to the
Hôtel Matignon The Hôtel Matignon (, ) is the official residence of the Prime Minister of France. It is located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, at 57 Rue de Varenne. The name Matignon is often used as a metonym for the governmental action of the French p ...
, living there until his term ended in 2012. In 2014, her husband François Fillon chose not to run for re-election to the municipal council of Solesmes, Sarthe, the small commune of 1,500 people in which the Fillons reside. At the mayor's request, Fillon ran for his former seat, running as the
Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement ( ; UMP ) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in France, political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullism, Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was o ...
candidate. She was elected, and has served on the council since 2014.


2017 presidential election

In 2017, François Fillon commenced his campaign for the French presidency. Fillon, who for much of her husband's political career had remained in relative obscurity, emerged to campaign for him and especially to try to reach the female vote, representing the movement "Women with Fillon".


Personal life

François and Penelope Fillon have five children: Marie (born 1982) and Charles (born 1984), both lawyers, Antoine (born 1985) and Edouard (born 1989), who both work in finance, and Arnaud (born 2001), who was a high school student. They also have three grandchildren. Fillon supports the Wales rugby team.


Fictitious employment controversy

In January 2017, ''
Le Canard enchaîné (; English: "The Chained Duck" or "The Chained Paper", as is French slang meaning "newspaper") is a satirical weekly newspaper in France. Its headquarters is in Paris. Founded in 1915 during World War I, it features investigative journalism ...
'' published an article in which Penelope Fillon was accused of alleged fictitious employment, as her husband's "''assistante parlementaire''" for a total salary of €500,000 over eight years on the one hand, and as a "literary adviser" of '' Revue des deux Mondes'' on the other, with a monthly salary of €5,000, amounting to a total of another €100,000. A
preliminary hearing In common law jurisdictions, a preliminary hearing, preliminary examination, preliminary inquiry, evidentiary hearing or probable cause hearing is a proceeding, after a criminal complaint has been filed by the prosecutor, to determine whether the ...
immediately opened. The public outcry around this so-called "Penelopegate" was such that doubts were voiced about François Fillon himself, who was at the time the frontrunner for the 2017 presidential election, with an immediate sharp decline in the opinion polls. On 31 January, new reporting by ''Le Canard enchaîné'' found that Penelope Fillon was actually paid €300,000 more than previously reported, for a total sum of €831,440 for 15 years of her parliamentary assistant work. It also reported that Fillon had paid two of his children €84,000 for little apparent actual work. On 6 February 2017 Fillon held a press conference. He said "It was a mistake and I apologize to the French eople but also said that the salary of his wife was "perfectly justified".lefigaro.fr
''Fillon: «Rien ne me fera changer d'avis, je suis candidat à l'élection présidentielle»''
/ref> However, on 28 March 2017, she was placed under formal investigation following a day of questioning by magistrates. In June 2020, Fillon was convicted of embezzlement of public funds and sentenced to three years imprisonment. Her sentence was suspended and she vowed to appeal the conviction. On 9 May 2022, a French appeals court reduced Filon's sentence to a two-year suspended prison sentence. Her husband's prison sentence would be shortened to four years with three years suspended. The court maintained fines of €375,000 for each of them.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fillon, Penelope Living people 1955 births 20th-century French lawyers 20th-century Welsh lawyers 21st-century French lawyers 21st-century French women lawyers Alumni of the University of Bristol Alumni of University College London British emigrants to France Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism François Fillon French people of English descent French people of Welsh descent French Roman Catholics Former Anglicans People from Monmouthshire Politicians of the French Fifth Republic Politicians from Pays de la Loire The Republicans (France) politicians Spouses of prime ministers of France Union for a Popular Movement politicians Welsh emigrants to France Welsh people of English descent Welsh Roman Catholics Welsh lawyers People educated at King Henry VIII School, Abergavenny 21st-century French women politicians 20th-century French educators 20th-century Welsh educators Welsh women lawyers French politicians convicted of crimes French female criminals 20th-century French women lawyers 21st-century British women lawyers 20th-century Welsh women lawyers