New Bruni Book Tells Of 'Rivalry' With Obamas

[Jacaylbaro]

An unauthorised biography of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has revealed the French first lady's "rivalry" and strained relationship with Michelle Obama.

 

Carla: A Secret Life describes a different woman to the one people in France think they may know.

 

The book, written by journalist Besma Lahouri, claims she is a possessive, intense and jealous woman who desperately wants to have a close relationship with the US presidential couple.

 

It states that Mrs Obama is "the only one in (Miss Bruni's) eyes able to dispute the title of the planet's sexiest and most glamorous first lady".

 

The book is based on over 100 interviews and describes the 42-year-old as a "completely self-centred woman who doesn't manage to interest herself in things that don't directly affect her".

 

Ms Lahouri claims: "She's a woman who is always in love, because she is genuinely in love with the President. But she genuinely loved her former lovers and she told everybody in interviews that it was for life."

 

The singer and former supermodel married Nicolas Sarkozy after a three-month romance in 2008, shortly after he won the presidency and divorced his previous wife.

 

But allegations of infidelity have dogged the couple's relationship.

 

Carla: A Secret Life alleges that Miss Bruni invited three of her former lovers to her mansion in the South of France last year during the couple's first summer holiday.

 

But, despite the hype, some critics say the book merely brings together elements that were already largely known.

 

"It was billed as the book that would make Carla Bruni tremble," said Luc Angevert, who reviewed the book for Closer, a well-known French celebrity magazine.

 

"But I doubt she'll be trembling too much, as everything that was in the book was already well published in the press and was pretty public."

 

He added: "What it explains about the presidential couple is that - or at least what I found new - is this jealousy, a bit envious about the Obama couple, that they would really have liked to be friends with the Obamas and that Carla Bruni particularly would like to be as popular as Michelle Obama."

 

Another biography, this time produced with Miss Bruni's co-operation, is due to be published this month.

 

Titled Carla and the Ambitious, it reveals even more about Miss Bruni and Michelle Obama.

 

It claims that when Miss Bruni asked Michelle Obama what it is like being America's First Lady, she answered: "Don't ask! It's hell. I can't stand it!"

 

But a White House spokesman said: "The first lady never said that."

 

These books come at a time when President Sarkozy's popularity has plummeted, and he is being criticised for raising the retirement age and cracking down on Eastern European Gypsies.

 

Miss Bruni's cinema debut in Woody Allen's film, Midnight In Paris, will be seen on screens next year.

[Jacaylbaro]