Carla Bruni's Romance With The President Of France

Former model, singer, and the France's First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy shocked the French public (and many in the modelling and music world, I'd bet) when she fell in love and married the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, after a whirwind two month romance. 

I don't know what he has but he has something very protective that I
never found before, maybe because I was much more attracted to artists."

But whatever they had would not be denied.  Dating an elected official took some getting used to for Carla.

I realised people were shocked when I first started dating, because
presidents don’t date and I understand that. But it’s just another world for
me because I come from the modelling and the music – we can date for ever,
we don’t have to get married."

Part of the shock undoubtedly came from the fact that Sarkozy was married at the time.

[I]t was the first time a president got
divorced, usually they don’t get divorced because that’s not good for their
position."

Carla seems to think this is the norm for men in their fifties, though.

'So I guess Nicolas is having a life like a normal 50-year-old man:
he can get divorced and he can get married again,' she says."

Publicity spin obviously exists throughout the world.

I can't imagine this happening in the United States, can you?  If you happen to be in France, a film about their relationship (including the sacrifices Carla refused to make and her decision to enter therapy after she retired from modelling) will be airing there.  Otherwise, the UK Times article is extremely interesting.

Photos by WENN