The speech that never was: Macron's shelved address before Notre-Dame fire

Minutes before receiving the news that Notre-Dame cathedral was consumed by flames French President Emmanuel Macron had recorded a solemn message to the nation.

But the highly-anticipated speech on Monday, in which he had planned to set out his recipe for ending five months of often violent "yellow vest" protests, never made it onto TV screens.

Macron cancelled it to rush to the bedside of France's fire-scarred 850-year-old landmark, vowing to rebuild Notre-Dame.

AFP has now seen a copy of the text of the cancelled speech, which set out several measures aimed at tackling inequality -- a key gripe of the "yellow vests" -- without a radical shift in policy.

Macron's office refused to confirm the leaks, saying: "Today, the president and the prime minister, are prioritising the end of the operation to save Notre-Dame".

The president addressed the nation Tuesday with his comments devoted to rebuilding Notre-Dame. But he also made an oblique reference to the shelved speech.

"I will return ..