After 12 years leading the Palace of Versailles, 71-year-old Catherine Pégard has served as cultural advisor to Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée since September. Rumors position her as a potential successor to Rachida Dati at the Culture Ministry if Dati focuses fully on her Paris mayoral campaign. Pégard dismisses these speculations outright.
Catherine Pégard, a former political journalist and advisor to Nicolas Sarkozy from 2007 to 2011, led the Palace of Versailles for 12 and a half years, exceeding her legal term. Ousted in 2024, she joined the Élysée team in September as cultural advisor. At 71, this tenacious figure is well-versed in power's backrooms.
In cultural circles, predictions have circulated for weeks: Pégard could succeed Rachida Dati at the Culture Ministry. Dati, running for Paris mayor in the March 15 and 22 municipal elections, faces a corruption and influence-peddling probe. Her home and offices were searched in December 2025 as part of a judicial inquiry tied to her European Parliament role. Asked on Sud Radio on November 5 about combining her positions, Dati stated: “Everything is compatible.”
In late December, Pégard responded to the rumors from her Élysée office: “That’s not the subject,” she said, face stern. In 2022, she was considered for the role, but Emmanuel Macron chose Rima Abdul Malak instead. Other contenders include Philippe Bélaval, with his background at the Paris Opera, the BnF, and beyond. Macron's cultural advisor from 2023 to June 2025, Bélaval left the Élysée for personal reasons while handling the Bayeux Tapestry loan to the UK. He had failed to replace Pégard at Versailles in 2016.
