French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed his close ally Catherine Pégard as France’s new culture minister, replacing Rachida Dati, who is stepping down to run for mayor of Paris in March’s municipal elections.
Pégard is far from a surprise pick. She ran the Château de Versailles for 13 years and has been Macron’s culture adviser since 2024. Before that, she was a political journalist, editing the magazine Le Point, and also worked as a speechwriter for former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
At Versailles, she oversaw major renovations, opened up nearly 65,000 square feet of new visitor space, stepped up fundraising, and kept large-scale restoration projects on track. Her appointment wasn’t universally welcomed at first, but some heritage insiders questioned whether she had the traditional cultural administration background for the job.
Pégard inherits a ministry in rough shape. It’s dealing with budget cuts and the fallout from October’s theft of the French crown jewels from the Louvre. A parliamentary inquiry has pointed to serious security failings, and just a day before Dati resigned, Louvre director Laurence des Cars also stepped down.
Dati, whose 25 months in office were turbulent, is known as a combative figure who often pitched herself as a champion of culture in rural France, while accusing parts of the art world of elitism. She is no stranger to being lambasted by the French press and government reshuffles (she survived four). French magazine Téléramaclaimed said she “largely lost the trust of the cultural sector” while at the culture ministry, highlighting widespread scepticism from prominent cultural figures about her leadership. There were also calls from media commentators for journalists to boycott interviews with her.
Dati did introduce a long-awaited bill on the restitution of colonial-era objects, however, although no new laws were ultimately passed. Another controversial proposal, to merge France’s public broadcasters, has since stalled.
Her relationship with the press soured further after reports that she had received hundreds of thousands of euros from major companies before entering government. In September, Dati is due to appear in court over allegations she lobbied for the carmaker Renault while serving as a member of the European Parliament. She denies any wrongdoing.
