It was the week that Emmanuel Macron – the slick young French president who once said he hoped to rule above the political fray, like the Roman god Jupiter – was brutally reminded that he is, after all, a mere mortal.

His top aides were grilled live on television and the opposition shut down parliament. Then – to cap it all – he was forced to issue a bizarre denial that he was having a homosexual affair with a bodyguard who sparked a political scandal after being filmed beating up May Day protesters.

Seeking to dispel rumours swirling around the internet, Macron joked: “Alexandre Benalla has never had the nuclear codes… Alexandre Benalla is not my lover.”

Gathered around him his MPs laughed,…