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| Carla Bruni says Valérie Trierweiler should marry François Hollande | Carla Bruni says Valérie Trierweiler should marry François Hollande |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| As Valérie Trierweiler tries to draw a line under the soap opera surrounding her private life with François Hollande, her predecessor Carla Bruni has suggested it would be easier if she were married and not a mere presidential partner, re-opening the debate about the role of the French first lady. | As Valérie Trierweiler tries to draw a line under the soap opera surrounding her private life with François Hollande, her predecessor Carla Bruni has suggested it would be easier if she were married and not a mere presidential partner, re-opening the debate about the role of the French first lady. |
| Bruni, the supermodel-turned-singer who married the then president Nicolas Sarkozy less than three months after meeting him, told French Elle magazine: "I can only speak from my own experience but I think it's more simple to be the legitimate wife of the head of state than his partner. The French presidency is an official status that implies official situations. Maybe I'm wrong and their choice is modern, but for my part, I felt a real easing of the general concern about me when I married Nicolas. Curiously, it's through that private undertaking that I found my place in public life." | Bruni, the supermodel-turned-singer who married the then president Nicolas Sarkozy less than three months after meeting him, told French Elle magazine: "I can only speak from my own experience but I think it's more simple to be the legitimate wife of the head of state than his partner. The French presidency is an official status that implies official situations. Maybe I'm wrong and their choice is modern, but for my part, I felt a real easing of the general concern about me when I married Nicolas. Curiously, it's through that private undertaking that I found my place in public life." |
| Trierweiler, a journalist at Paris Match magazine, has been Hollande's partner for about seven years. Their relationship, dubbed a political "psychodrama", has been the source of intense scrutiny and a recent rush of books. Trierweiler detonated a bombshell during the June parliamentary elections by tweeting her support for a dissident Socialist who was running against Ségolène Royal, Hollande's former partner and the mother of his four children. Since then, French news weeklies have run front pages about the Hollande-Trierweiler-Royal "love triangle" and the new Socialist president – once seen as a plodding "Mr Normal" – was depicted as having a private life more complex than the three-times-married Sarkozy. | Trierweiler, a journalist at Paris Match magazine, has been Hollande's partner for about seven years. Their relationship, dubbed a political "psychodrama", has been the source of intense scrutiny and a recent rush of books. Trierweiler detonated a bombshell during the June parliamentary elections by tweeting her support for a dissident Socialist who was running against Ségolène Royal, Hollande's former partner and the mother of his four children. Since then, French news weeklies have run front pages about the Hollande-Trierweiler-Royal "love triangle" and the new Socialist president – once seen as a plodding "Mr Normal" – was depicted as having a private life more complex than the three-times-married Sarkozy. |
| Hollande and Trierweiler have said that any discussion of marriage would be a private matter. Trierweiler is twice divorced and Hollande, who had a relationship of more than 20 years with Royal, has never married. A poll for VSD magazine after his election in May 2012 found 79% of French people felt it was "of little importance" that the presidential couple lived together without being married. | Hollande and Trierweiler have said that any discussion of marriage would be a private matter. Trierweiler is twice divorced and Hollande, who had a relationship of more than 20 years with Royal, has never married. A poll for VSD magazine after his election in May 2012 found 79% of French people felt it was "of little importance" that the presidential couple lived together without being married. |
| Trierweiler issued a mea culpa for the controversial tweet as an opinion poll for VSD found 67% of French people had a negative view of her. | Trierweiler issued a mea culpa for the controversial tweet as an opinion poll for VSD found 67% of French people had a negative view of her. |
| Asked about the tweet, Bruni said she refused to judge Trierweiler: "Who hasn't made mistakes in their life?" But she added that Trierweiler's situation as first lady was a "little hazy" and haziness was "not to be recommended at the highest levels of state". | Asked about the tweet, Bruni said she refused to judge Trierweiler: "Who hasn't made mistakes in their life?" But she added that Trierweiler's situation as first lady was a "little hazy" and haziness was "not to be recommended at the highest levels of state". |
| Bruni, who has an album due in the spring, said she stopped performing gigs during Sarkozy's presidency, saying it didn't seem right to sing when confronted with a climate of "unemployment, misery, difficulties". Asked if Trierweiler, who writes a culture column for Paris Match and also has an office at the Elysée, was right to continue working as a journalist, Bruni said: "Does she have the choice? It's complex and difficult … Journalism is supposed to be a counter-power, that's one of its missions." | Bruni, who has an album due in the spring, said she stopped performing gigs during Sarkozy's presidency, saying it didn't seem right to sing when confronted with a climate of "unemployment, misery, difficulties". Asked if Trierweiler, who writes a culture column for Paris Match and also has an office at the Elysée, was right to continue working as a journalist, Bruni said: "Does she have the choice? It's complex and difficult … Journalism is supposed to be a counter-power, that's one of its missions." |
| Asked if the rightwing Sarkozy would return to frontline politics, Bruni said it was unlikely, "although I'm not an expert on the movements of the political scene". | Asked if the rightwing Sarkozy would return to frontline politics, Bruni said it was unlikely, "although I'm not an expert on the movements of the political scene". |
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