France:Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Cécilia, announced their divorce yesterday, ending an 11-year marriage which had become a national soap opera and blurred France's strict boundaries between public and private life.
It makes Mr Sarkozy the first French president to divorce while in power. His wife, a former model, reportedly requested the divorce, which has already been granted. Mr Sarkozy, who won her back when she left him two years ago, tried to dissuade her but then consented.
The news follows months of speculation as Mrs Sarkozy disappeared from public engagements and the president, a teetotaller who likes early nights, lived the life of a bachelor, attending matches at the Rugby World Cup and hosting post-match dinners in smart Paris restaurants which lasted until the early hours.
But the style of yesterday's statement raised concerns about presidential spin. The left accused him of using the divorce to divert attention from transport strikes. The Élysée first announced the couple's "separation by mutual consent", later amending "separation" to "divorce". The Sarkozys' lawyer confirmed that a judge had granted the divorce. "It went very well. There was not the slightest difficulty," she said.
Mr Sarkozy, whose first marriage also broke down, styles himself as a moderniser and once said marital heartbreak had brought him closer to the nation.
Traditionally, French presidents have maintained a front of happy families, regardless of what might have been going on behind closed doors. François Mitterrand led a double life, maintaining a mistress and daughter, a story which the media kept secret for 21 years. Jacques Chirac, married to Bernadette, was chauffeur-driven to dates around Paris, later admitting he loved many women "as discreetly as possible".
One serving president, Félix Faure, died in 1899 while engaged in sexual relations with his mistress in his office, but Mr Sarkozy's divorce while in power has no precedent since the emperor Napoleon divorced Josephine.
Mr Sarkozy (52) left for the EU summit in Lisbon yesterday, making no comment.
For years, he presented himself and Cécilia as a US-style political couple akin to the Kennedys. This summer, he sent her as his special envoy to Muammar Gadafy in Libya to help secure the release of imprisoned Bulgarian nurses. Yesterday's news raised questions about why he did this, whether she was prepared for a role as first lady and how long the couple have been maintaining a public front.
Mr Sarkozy first met his future wife in 1984 when he officiated as mayor at her wedding to Jacques Martin, a TV star more than 20 years her senior. Mr Sarkozy was also married, but the two couples became friends. Within years, Nicolas and Cécilia divorced their spouses and married.
Mrs Sarkozy has acted as a muse and adviser to her husband, taking an office next to his. But in 2005, she left him and went to New York with a new companion, a Moroccan-born events organiser. Their photograph appeared in Paris Match. Mr Sarkozy, then interior minister, was distraught.
Described by reporters as sentimental, in need of affection and nursing a battered ego, he lost several kilos in a few days, appeared distracted and made controversial comments about the poor suburban housing estates in her absence. He sought consolation in the company of a leading French journalist. But he then flew to New York to bring back his wife and their young son, Louis. The editor who had run the photo of Mrs Sarkozy's new life was later fired.
After Cécilia's return, the Sarkozys presented themselves as happily reunited for the presidential campaign. But she often appeared tense or was absent. She did not vote in the final election on May 6th.
Despite the Sarkozys' inauguration-day public show as a new modern family - with one son together and two children each from previous marriages - the strains were clear. The family never moved into the Elysée palace, the official residence.
Mrs Sarkozy's mission to Libya sparked controversy in France, as did her snub to George and Laura Bush, turning down a personal invitation to a picnic at their US ranch blaming a sore throat, then being photographed shopping the next day.
In her reluctance to abide by protocol, Mrs Sarkozy has often been described as a truly modern woman. But in reality she never carved out an identity separate to her husband's and was said to be hurt by her media image. Known for her designer clothes, Mrs Sarkozy has been portrayed by Le Monde's cartoonist as Marie Antoinette. Yesterday Paris Match published a new set of official photos in which she posed alone.
Patrick Balkany, a politician and close friend of the Sarkozys, said: "she didn't want to participate in presidential life or in public life. It was inevitable."
- (Guardian service)