That’s what I wondered. It’s not clear in the article, and I don’t follow Le Pen’s goings-on enough to know.
If it was to be in France, she had every right, and as someone else said, ‘Vive la France!’
If it was to be in Lebanon, I would ask: What is the general ‘dress code’ for women there? Is it the custom for all women to wear the scarf; or the custom to wear it in the presence of clerics; or was it just this one official/cleric who was demanding it of Le Pen?
I generally believe in the idea of ‘when in Rome’, and a woman traveling to a foreign country should follow the general custom.
Speaking of Rome - and without drawing any correlation between countries, religions, or personages and their status - I understand that the dress code of the Vatican still requires that a woman wear a veil when having an audience with the Pope. I’m not a Catholic, but if I were to ever have a reason to meet with the Pope privately, I would wear the veil - even with *this* Pope.
And to ball-it-up even more: sometimes there are reasons, regardless, to just make a point...
What to do, What to do...
Propriety is to wear black veil in presence of pope, but it is never “required.” Everyone freely keeps that custom, even Michelle.