At 77, François-Marie Banier is showing no signs of slowing down his career as a French socialite photographer. Liliane Bettencourt's ex-confidant, who was convicted in 2016 of "abuse of weakness" on the billionaire heiress of the L'Oréal empire, paced the square of Rabat's royal palace on Monday, October 28, intently snapping stoic guards at close range. The man in his 70s was one of some 130 people chosen by the Elysée Palace, along with the traditional business leaders, to accompany President Emmanuel Macron during his three-day state visit to Morocco.

It was a historic moment: The French president hasn't been there since 2018. It was viewed as a sign of reconciliation, with France's recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, and the signing of big contracts for "more than €10 billion," according to the Elysée's statements to Agence France-Presse.

The reason for Banier's presence at this state visit, however, remains a mystery. The photographer did not respond to Le Monde's requests. When contacted, the Elysée did not respond either. Speaking on French television, Macron said that all the guests had "a link" with Morocco.

Against a backdrop of political tensions over the 2025 budget, and three months after the publication of a report by the French Court of Accounts on July 29 that expressed concern over the management of the Elysée's finances, the vast size of this delegation has raised questions. The report's recommendations included capping "the size of official delegations [ministers, members of ¨Parliament, directors of central administration departments, etc.] and unofficial delegations [other figures from the worlds of business, culture, etc.] (...), on the model of what is imposed by international summits," as well as to broaden the "scope of application of the rules for reimbursing" costs "in view of certain guest profiles."

These recommendations do not appear to have been implemented. For this trip to Morocco, the size of the unofficial delegation was close to those reported in 2023, which ranged "between 74 [G20 in India] and 146 people [Africa tour]," according to the report. The billing of guests appears to have been applied in the vast majority of cases, following the rules set out in December 2023, before the report was published. Under these rules, a reimbursement is requested from ministers, central administration directors and the heads of France's 120 largest companies.

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