Thursday, 18 October 2012

French Lessons




Valérie Trieweiller, the French president’s domestic partner, has acquired a few soubriquets since her recent arrival at the Élysée Palace: La Frondeuse (The Troublemaker), and The Rottweiler. Officially, the forty-seven year old is the first ‘unmarried’ first lady.

The twice-divorced, 47 year old political journalist reportedly had an affair lasting several years with Patrick Devedjian, 68, a married former economic recovery minister in Nicolas Sarkozy's government.

When he refused to leave his wife of 30 years, she hedged her bets by roping in Hollande (a father of four married to Ségolène Royal, a senior Socialist politician in her own right) to her cinq-à-sept list.

Valérie showed off her multi-tasking skills straddling both the Right and the Left candidates whilst dutifully reporting on politics.

But La Frondeuse drew blood when photographed on a beach holiday with her president boyfriend. She felt the paparazzi snaps made her look ‘fat’ and sued. A Paris judge ordered celebrity weekly VSD to pay Valerie £1,500 versus her demand for £24,000, for breaching her privacy and image rights.

But Miss Trierweiler’s fangs are not as sharp as many portray: she declined to attack her own employer, Paris Match, saying she felt "ill at ease" doing so. After all, they published the photos inside not magazine and not on the front cover…

But what has the entire country mesmerized is the interaction between Valérie and the president’s ex-wife, Royal.

The Rottweiler recently engaged in a public swatting at Ségolène by way of Twitter. Her actions caused much debate. Enviably cool, she quipped, "To speak of jealousy in this business is idiotic. I see no conflation of public and private lives here. It has got out of all proportion and things should be put back into perspective."


Oh là là! Will Ségolène slam a ball in Valerie’s court next?  Stay tuned…

In the meantime, enjoy watching Michelle Obama’s body language as she officially greets the Rottweiler during the G8 conference.  

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