EMMANUEL MACRON GAVE a speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland yesterday wearing a pair of sunglasses, indoors.

The unusual choice of eyewear prompted people to wonder what was going on with the French President. 

Some people in France have labelled Macron a “kéké”, meaning show-off in French, while others made comparisons to Tom Cruise’s look in Top Gun and Henry Winkler’s Happy Days character Fonzie. 

Rather than it being an exercise in French fashion flair, it turns out Macron has been battling an eye condition that he has said is “completely harmless”, but has made his right eye look red and puffy.

A doctor told French news outlet RTL that Macron was suffering from a subconjunctival haemorrhage, “a benign condition.”

“At the front of the eye is the conjunctiva, a small, translucent membrane. It covers the white of the eye. There is a very small, superficial blood vessel there that can burst and form a red spot that appears on the white of the eye.” 

The condition can sometimes occur when a person sneezes or coughs vigorously, or pokes their eye. 

Macron addressing French troops last week Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

He began wearing the glasses in public last week during a visit to a French military base, but his bloodshot right eye was visible during a speech. 

“Simply see an unintentional reference to the Eye Of The Tiger… for those who catch the reference, it is a sign of determination,” the president joked while inspecting the troops, making a reference to the Survivor song from the 1982 Rocky III movie.

With reporting from Press Association