At every stage of Emmanuel Macron’s stratospheric rise, sceptics of one persuasion or another have warned that the wax sealing his wings would melt. They were in full cry when he convened a special session of Parliament at Versailles earlier this month where he set out his presidential programme.

It was the lavish venue and its associations – “monarchical”, said some; “pharaonic”, said others – quite as much as what the new French President had to say that prompted the accusations of hubris.