Sarkozy suggests wedding plans underway

Last Updated: Tuesday, January 8, 2008 | 8:47 AM ET

CBC News

France's president addressed the rumours he had proposed to his new girlfriend, suggesting on Tuesday that wedding plans are in the works.

Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters at a news conference in Paris that his relationship with Carla Bruni is "serious."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking at a news conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Tuesday, says his relationship with Carla Bruni is 'serious.'
(Michel Euler/Associated Press)

The weekly Le Journal Du Dimanche reported Sunday that Sarkozy has already proposed to Bruni, giving her a heart-shaped diamond ring. The newspaper reported the pair were planning to marry on Feb. 8 or 9.

Sarkozy laughed off the newspaper report, saying, "It isn't the [Journal du Dimanche newspaper] that will set the date.

"There is a strong chance that you will learn about it after it's already done," said Sarkozy, who was elected president last May.

Sinking popularity

French newspaper editorials have questioned Sarkozy's public holidays with Bruni, accusing him of using the highly public romance to distract from his recent slide in the polls. The pair have been photographed arm in arm touring Egypt and Disneyland Paris.

Sarkozy's approval rating has fallen from 55 per cent to 48 per cent, a French CSA poll reported Sunday. That's a drop from a high of 65 per cent last July, two months after his election.

An editorial in L'Est Republicain said Sarkozy has forgotten "that he should have a romance with France, and not with himself and his paramour," while L'Alsace newspaper criticized the glamourous and public nature of the relationship.

"The glitter makes many French people dream, but it also irritates many others — especially those who have a hard time making ends meet."

Sarkozy, who spoke for more than two hours during Tuesday's news conference, said he was breaking a long-standing tradition of French leaders keeping their love lives secret, with the tacit agreement of the media.

He alluded to late former French president Francois Mitterrand, who kept the existence of a mistress and illegitimate daughter a secret for most of his 1981-95 presidency.

"I have been a part of a break with a deplorable tradition in our country: hypocrisy and lies," Sarkozy said.

"Carla and I have decided not to lie."

Sarkozy and his wife Cecilia divorced in October. A marriage to Bruni would be Sarkozy's third. He divorced his first wife, Marie, in the late 1980s after befriending Cecilia.

Bruni, a former supermodel turned singer, has been linked with Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton and Donald Trump.