Cecilia Sarkozy wears Prada, not the more presidentially correct Chanel, and claims to be more comfortable in a pair of combat trousers. Her best friend is Rachida Dati, a Moroccan bricklayer’s daughter who has just been appointed France’s Minister of Justice.
She may or may not be having an affair, but she definitely did not vote for her husband, Nicolas, in the second round of the presidential elections and was noticeably absent for much of the final campaigning.
France is now abuzz with speculation over how she will fulfil the role of first lady, a position she once described as a “bore”.
The 49-year-old, of Russian Jewish-Spanish origins, is fascinating a France more used to bourgeois respectability in its politicians. Rumours about her on the internet veer between lurid and the feverish.
French privacy laws fiercely protect public figures, but the French media are changing tack with Cecilia and may sail closer to the wind than ever before on this most gripping of topics.
“The change is subtle but very clear,” said French media commentator Daniel Schneidermann. Last month Le Monde “ran a story speculating about why Cecilia was not at her husband’s side over Easter. The story was discreet and was not followed up but it marked the historic crushing of the ‘private life’ taboo.”
Last week, newspapers learnt to their cost what happens when gossip is stifled. Le Journal Du Dimanche, owned by Sarkozy’s friend Arnaud Lagardere, held back a story revealing that, after a row with her husband, she had spent the most important weekend of her husband’s political career in New York, possibly with a suitor.
Reporters spread the word to Rue 89 — a blogspot set up by retrenched journalists from the ailing Liberation newspaper. Once stories appear there, the media feels obliged to check them out. So Cecilia’s weekend was confirmed by Le Monde and the story was followed up — including by the flagship evening news show on TF1, owned by one of Sarkozy’s closest friends, Martin Bouygues.
One editor said: “I think the interest is such that we can no longer turn a blind eye. Mrs Sarkozy is a fascinating creature. France will never have a Princess Diana situation but perhaps we will see rather more of Cecilia than of previous first ladies.” — Guardian Unlimited Â