Posted on 10/12/2007 8:24:18 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Sarkozy divorce will be announced ‘imminently’
Adam Sage in Paris
France was treated to an unprecedented spectacle yesterday as newspapers and radio shows aired the rumour that President Sarkozy was on the point of divorce from his wife, C飩lia.
Commentators, running roughshod over the long-standing Gallic taboo governing the private lives of public figures, said that an official announcement on the separation was imminent.
L’Est R鰵blicain, the regional newspaper, said that the couple, whose tempestuous relationship has been the subject of intense speculation for months, were planning to make an announcement.
“Things should move pretty quickly, with divorce papers filed rapidly at the courts,” the daily said, quoting sources close to the French presidency.
L’Est R鰵blicain said that the announcement was due last night, although other sources suggested it may be delayed until next week.
Swiss newspapers said that the 49-year-old Mrs Sarkozy was spotted in Geneva this week while her husband was on an official visit to see President Putin in Russia.
“The couple no longer live under the same roof,” said La Tribune de Genève, adding: “C飩lia Sarkozy no longer appears next to her husband, she no longer fulfils the role of French First Lady.” Le Nouvel Observateur, the weekly French magazine, said that Mr Sarkozy had poured out his troubles to Mikhail Saakashvili, his Georgian counterpart, when they met for the France-Georgia World Cup rugby match last month. It quoted Mr Sarkozy, 52, as saying: “Thankfully there is the rugby. With that you can forget all the rest.”
The Sarkozys have a ten-year-old son, Louis, and two children each from their first marriages.
A divorce settlement could be costly for the President, who declared a personal fortune of €2.5 million (£1.75 million) this year. However, Mrs Sarkozy is also reported to be wealthy.
Rumours about the state of their marriage have been swirling around Paris ever since the presidential election in May, when Mrs Sarkozy failed to vote in the second round. Her only official foreign visit with him was to the G8 summit in Germany in June, but she left before the end.
A glamorous former model whose father was born in Moldavia and mother in Spain, she was initially portrayed in the French press as a free spirit. Her role in the liberation of six Bulgarian medical staff held hostage in Libya — when she acted as her husband’s envoy — brought her widespread praise in France.
Public opinion began to turn against her when she pulled out of a family lunch with President Bush during the Sarkozys’ family holiday in America this summer. Her husband claimed that she had a sore throat.
She has made no public appearance in France since Bastille Day on July 14, sparking claims that her capriciousness could damage the presidency.
The couple’s marital difficulties first became public knowledge in 2005 when Mrs Sarkozy had a relationship with Richard Attias, a public relations consultant, with whom she was photographed in New York.
Mr Sarkozy responded by having an affair with a political journalist, and they bought household goods with the apparent intention of setting up home together. However, Mr Sarkozy was soon back with his wife. “Today, C飩lia and I are reunited for good, for real, doubtless for ever,” he wrote in his book, Testimony. “We are not able and do not know how to separate from each other.”
Asked whether the Sarkozys had split up again, David Martinon, Mr Sarkozy’s spokesman, said: “I have no comment to make on press rumours.”
United and divided
1984 The couple met when Nicolas, then mayor of Neuilly officiated at C飩lia’s first marriage, to Jacques Martin, a French TV personality
1989 Nicolas and C飩lia wed
2005 The Sarkozys separated for six months. Mrs Sarkozy moved to New York to live with Richard Attias, an advertising executive, while Mr Sarkozy had an affair with the journalist Anne Fulda
January 2, 2006 Mrs Sarkozy was reunited with her husband at Charles de Gaulle airport
May 6, 2007 Mrs Sarkozy failed to turn up to vote in the second round of the election
Source: Times archive
Ping!
Prayers for their children....and their AMERICA lovin' Dad!!!
I guess this explains why she wouldn’t join her husband for dinner with the Bushes last summer.
I think she has some explaining to do herself. It appears she is not fit to be First Lady of France. Herself seems to come first.
It seems to have been a long term messy marriage.
Men really should not marry women who want to outshine them....
Good grief. I guess what Mark Twain said about the French is true. If it's so accepted that the French cheat on each other I wonder why they bother to get divorced.
Bill Clinton to Cecilia “You look tired would you like a back rub”?
Get ready for the American version if Rudy gets the nomination. It is sad when peoplle get divorced. JMNSHO, but it’s pathetic when people get divorced for the second, third, fourth, etc. time.
Thanks, Tiger,
It looks like Sarko the American has a real Donna Hanover problem on his hands.
“Public opinion began to turn against her when she pulled out of a family lunch with President Bush during the Sarkozys’ family holiday in America this summer. Her husband claimed that she had a sore throat.”
Too many foreign objects in the vicinity, no doubt.
amen to that...
Well, I don’t know alot about the woment - but I do know that it is well documented that Sarkozy has had his wixked way with a couple of other women whilst married. Shame on him.
that's a no-win situation.
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