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If you think about it, world leaders belong to a sort of exclusive club, where you see your comrades every once in a while to discuss everything that's gone on in the time since you last saw each other. It's natural that these people would develop relationships with each other — and so naturally, there would also be photos of world leaders that look like romance novel covers.
Twitter user Matt Haughey made this observation in June after seeing a picture of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron, appearing to be post-embrace, staring deeply into each other eyes. "Getty images always sneaks one photo that looks like the cover of a romance novel in any set of attractive world leaders meeting," Haughey wrote on Twitter.
While Macron and Trudeau have been the subject of much bromance-theorizing online, they're not the only ones to appear in photos like this. There's enough hand-shaking and back-clapping at any gathering of world leaders to fill the covers of several bookshelves of trashy — or classy — romance novels, even if the content of their meetings might not be quite so juicy. With these photos, though, you can imagine the conversations these leaders were having for yourself.
1
The Original Inspiration
Haughey even imagined a title for the first textual representation of Macron and Trudeau's bromance — Socialized Medicine: It's Just What The Doctor Ordered.
2
Emmanuel Macron & Angela Merkel
For centuries, France and Germany were either at war, recovering from war, or preparing for the next war. Under the leadership of Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, though, that's all over.
3
Theresa May & Viktor Orban
The imagined exchange between British Prime Minister Theresa May and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban almost writes itself:
"Prime Minister, may I?" Viktor asked, a twinkle in his eye.
Tickled at the pun and the chivalry, Theresa giggled, extending her hand towards the diminutive man standing in front of her, looking up at her with steely blue eyes.
4
Benjamin Netanyahu & Donald Trump
For Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and American President Donald Trump, it's two men against a cold, cold world.
5
Vladimir Putin & Xi Jingping
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Xi Jinping lays a medal — or a whole necklace of medals — very lovingly around the neck of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
6
Kim Jong Un & Moon Jae-In
The very picture of a star-crossed romance — Chairman of the Worker's Party of Korea Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae In embrace, divided by nothing but decades of fraught history.
7
Enrique Peña Nieto & Francois Hollande
Former French president Francois Hollande looks like he's keeping a dirty little secret from Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto. A conspiracy to get Mexico to pay for the wall, perhaps?
8
Donald Trump & Shinzo Abe
Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, sharing a hidden moment.
9
Theresa May & Angela Merkel
The leaders of Britain and Germany look like they've spent their whole lives missing each other — but maybe this latest national security summit held at a venerable location will change things for good.
10
Emmanuel Macron & Donald Trump
Is this the sequel from Emmanuel Macron's bromance novel with Justin Trudeau?
11
The Original Pair
Okay, so they're not technically world leaders of two different countries, but Barack Obama and Joe Biden are the original romance novel politicians, amiright? And when you see the two of them together, could you imagine any two people looking happier? If this isn't the cover of a romance novel, then I really don't know what is.
This, really, is just scratching the surface. After all, Getty Images hasn't existed forever — but world leaders have been meeting up and making friends for millennia. Surely the Roman emperors had some great moments with their Egyptian counterparts, and you know Henry VIII was all about a bromance or two to go along with his multiple romances.
And don't forget the Cold War, when kisses between world leaders was the norm. All in all, though, the present offers some pretty good untold romances for you to fill your proverbial bookshelves with.
