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| French president and wife divorce | French president and wife divorce |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife of 11 years, Cecilia, have divorced "by mutual consent", according to a statement from the Elysee Palace. | French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife of 11 years, Cecilia, have divorced "by mutual consent", according to a statement from the Elysee Palace. |
| The presidency's statement clarified an earlier announcement that they were to separate. | |
| "What is intended by the word separation is divorce," it said. | "What is intended by the word separation is divorce," it said. |
| The couple's lawyer said they had seen a judge to formalise the split and "there was no problem, they resolved everything amicably". | |
| Speculation that they were to split had been mounting for months, with the media remarking on Cecilia Sarkozy's absence from her husband's side. | Speculation that they were to split had been mounting for months, with the media remarking on Cecilia Sarkozy's absence from her husband's side. |
| Cecilia Sarkozy has had a successful career as a model and parliamentary aide and has said that she never wanted to be a traditional first lady. | Cecilia Sarkozy has had a successful career as a model and parliamentary aide and has said that she never wanted to be a traditional first lady. |
| Both were already divorcees when they married each other in 1996, with two children each from their previous marriages. | |
| class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/7044893.stm">Profile: Cecilia Sarkozy They have a 10-year-old son together, Louis. | |
| Cecilia Sarkozy was once one of her husband's closest political advisers. | Cecilia Sarkozy was once one of her husband's closest political advisers. |
| They have had a turbulent relationship and were separated for several months in 2005, when Cecilia went to live in New York with an advertising executive. | They have had a turbulent relationship and were separated for several months in 2005, when Cecilia went to live in New York with an advertising executive. |
| Though reconciled afterwards, the couple did not appear in public as often as was expected as Mr Sarkozy's presidential campaign gathered steam. | Though reconciled afterwards, the couple did not appear in public as often as was expected as Mr Sarkozy's presidential campaign gathered steam. |
| She did not vote in the second round of the presidential election and did not accompany him on a recent trip to Bulgaria - despite the fact that in July she had unexpectedly negotiated the release of Bulgarian medics imprisoned in Libya. | |
| This summer she failed to accompany her husband to a picnic lunch hosted by US President George W Bush and last weekend she was again absent from her husband's side at France's Rugby World Cup match against England. | This summer she failed to accompany her husband to a picnic lunch hosted by US President George W Bush and last weekend she was again absent from her husband's side at France's Rugby World Cup match against England. |
| "I don't see myself as a first lady. It bores me. I'm not politically correct," she said two years ago. | |
| The divorce announcement came on a testing day for Mr Sarkozy, 52, as France was paralysed by a one-day public transport strike. | |
| His rival in the presidential election, Socialist leader Segolene Royal, has also separated from her partner Francois Hollande, the father of her four children. Their break-up came soon after her election defeat in May. |