Emmanuel Macron's office has played down the incident

The video showed President Macron getting slapped in the face by his wife upon touching down in Vietnam for a state visit.

The office of the French president has played down the incident.

However, the 47-year-old has now spoken out and denied the altercation.

Speaking to reporters in Hanoi, Macron said he and his wife were 'joking around, as we do quite often'.

Furthermore, an Élysée Palace official told French media the scene showed 'a moment of closeness. But that was enough to feed the conspiracy theorists'.

A second Elysée source said the couple were 'decompressing one last time before the start of the visit, larking around'.

They added that Macron 'loves playing jokes on his wife before official occasions, and she always responds like this … It wasn’t even a slap'.

The stop in Vietnam marks the start of their Southeast Asia tour.

French media have reported that the Elysee initially denied the authenticity of images of the interaction before they eventually confirmed they were real.

The President of La République has been busy signing trade deals in Vietnam, a country with which they have historical ties.