Tweet
he Guardian : Où est Cecilia ? France agog as Sarkozy’s wife goes missing for 10 days
Hughes Lacoste
mercredi 2 mai 2007
Voir en ligne : The Guardian
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris Wednesday May 2, 2007 The Guardian
Nicolas Sarkozy with his wife, Cecilia. Cecilia Sarkozy has not been seen in public with her husband for 10 days. Photograph : Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images
They seemed to style themselves on John and Jackie Kennedy, posing as a happy couple in the great outdoors, holding hands on boats. But for weeks Paris has been asking why Cecilia Sarkozy, the second wife of French presidential favourite Nicolas Sarkozy, has not been seen in public with her husband at his final public meetings before Sunday’s election. She appeared with him to cast her vote in the first round 10 days ago, and Le Figaro magazine has published the couple’s parting kiss that day as Cecilia "went off to buy petit fours for a lunch with friends".
Article continues She has since appeared without her husband in Paris Match magazine clapping hands to a flamenco band at a gala dinner but she has not been seen at his headquarters where she advises him on image and communications and she has not joined him on stage.
Daniel Schneidermann, a media columnist for the left-leaning daily Liberation berated the silent French media for not asking more questions about Cecilia’s whereabouts. "A wife leaving the marriage has far more serious consequences, both physical and psychological than some extramarital affair," he warned.
Even the far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, who yesterday publicly asked his 3.8m voters to abstain rather than elect Mr Sarkozy, drew attention to his wife’s absence. Mr Sarkozy replied that he was protecting his family from the spotlight.
France, where privacy laws and a timid media mean politicians’ relationships are normally left alone, is increasingly curious about its next potential "first lady" or "first gentleman".
Both the rightwing Nicolas Sarkozy, and the socialist Segolène Royal, said this week that they did not want official status for their partners. But in a nation with a growing love of celebrity, where the taboo over private lives has slowly been eroded following the revelations of Francois Mitterrand’s illegitimate daughter Mazarine and Jacques Chirac’s recent admissions that he had loved many women "as discreetly as possible", the future president’s partnership has taken centre stage.
On the right, Cecilia, who is Mr Sarkozy’s second wife, became the focus of media attention after her husband openly presented his family to the press. In 2005, she was pictured on the cover of Paris Match in New York in the company of another man, only to return in a frenzy of publicity while Mr Sarkozy described how having his heart broken had strengthened him and made him closer to the people.
He first met her when he was mayor of one of Paris’s richest suburbs. Years later they divorced their partners and married, but, according to his biographer Catherine Nay, not before Mr Sarkozy’s first wife, looking for her husband during a ski holiday, found tell-tale footprints in the snow below Cecilia’s window.
Described as a "muse" and communications advisor who had an office adjoining her husband’s when he was minister, Mrs Sarkozy is said to be wary of a role. She once said : "I don’t see myself as a first lady. It bores me. I am not politically correct."
Ms Royal, the first woman with a chance of becoming president, is half of France’s biggest political power couple. She has four children with but never married the socialist party leader, Francois Hollande.
Mr Hollande has appeared on a beach with his wife reading "The History of France for Dummies" while she was snapped in her bikini for a celebrity magazine. But he says he prefers his political title to "first gentleman" and would not move into the Elysée palace. Unlike Bill and Hillary Clinton’s promise of "two for the price of one", they have been at pains to stress their political independence.
Hughes Lacoste
mercredi 2 mai 2007
Voir en ligne : The Guardian
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris Wednesday May 2, 2007 The Guardian
Nicolas Sarkozy with his wife, Cecilia. Cecilia Sarkozy has not been seen in public with her husband for 10 days. Photograph : Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images
They seemed to style themselves on John and Jackie Kennedy, posing as a happy couple in the great outdoors, holding hands on boats. But for weeks Paris has been asking why Cecilia Sarkozy, the second wife of French presidential favourite Nicolas Sarkozy, has not been seen in public with her husband at his final public meetings before Sunday’s election. She appeared with him to cast her vote in the first round 10 days ago, and Le Figaro magazine has published the couple’s parting kiss that day as Cecilia "went off to buy petit fours for a lunch with friends".
Article continues She has since appeared without her husband in Paris Match magazine clapping hands to a flamenco band at a gala dinner but she has not been seen at his headquarters where she advises him on image and communications and she has not joined him on stage.
Daniel Schneidermann, a media columnist for the left-leaning daily Liberation berated the silent French media for not asking more questions about Cecilia’s whereabouts. "A wife leaving the marriage has far more serious consequences, both physical and psychological than some extramarital affair," he warned.
Even the far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, who yesterday publicly asked his 3.8m voters to abstain rather than elect Mr Sarkozy, drew attention to his wife’s absence. Mr Sarkozy replied that he was protecting his family from the spotlight.
France, where privacy laws and a timid media mean politicians’ relationships are normally left alone, is increasingly curious about its next potential "first lady" or "first gentleman".
Both the rightwing Nicolas Sarkozy, and the socialist Segolène Royal, said this week that they did not want official status for their partners. But in a nation with a growing love of celebrity, where the taboo over private lives has slowly been eroded following the revelations of Francois Mitterrand’s illegitimate daughter Mazarine and Jacques Chirac’s recent admissions that he had loved many women "as discreetly as possible", the future president’s partnership has taken centre stage.
On the right, Cecilia, who is Mr Sarkozy’s second wife, became the focus of media attention after her husband openly presented his family to the press. In 2005, she was pictured on the cover of Paris Match in New York in the company of another man, only to return in a frenzy of publicity while Mr Sarkozy described how having his heart broken had strengthened him and made him closer to the people.
He first met her when he was mayor of one of Paris’s richest suburbs. Years later they divorced their partners and married, but, according to his biographer Catherine Nay, not before Mr Sarkozy’s first wife, looking for her husband during a ski holiday, found tell-tale footprints in the snow below Cecilia’s window.
Described as a "muse" and communications advisor who had an office adjoining her husband’s when he was minister, Mrs Sarkozy is said to be wary of a role. She once said : "I don’t see myself as a first lady. It bores me. I am not politically correct."
Ms Royal, the first woman with a chance of becoming president, is half of France’s biggest political power couple. She has four children with but never married the socialist party leader, Francois Hollande.
Mr Hollande has appeared on a beach with his wife reading "The History of France for Dummies" while she was snapped in her bikini for a celebrity magazine. But he says he prefers his political title to "first gentleman" and would not move into the Elysée palace. Unlike Bill and Hillary Clinton’s promise of "two for the price of one", they have been at pains to stress their political independence.