Sarkozy, Bruni tie the knot

French president marries Italian girlfriend after three-month romance

PARIS -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy married supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni at the Elysee Palace on Saturday, just three months after they started dating, French officials and family said.The pair tied the knot at a low-key, civil ceremony conducted by the mayor of the Paris district that houses the president's grandiose official residence.

Another official told Reuters the wedding took place at 11.00 a.m. local time and Italian news agency ANSA quoted Ms. Bruni's mother, Marisa Borini, as confirming the event.Mr. Sarkozy's spokesman declined to comment.Mr. Sarkozy and Ms. Bruni indicated last month that they planned to marry after a whirlwind romance and made clear that it would be a private affair, far from the eyes of the press.

Their relationship has been splashed across the media and Mr. Sarkozy's popularity ratings have plunged in recent weeks, with voters complaining that the president was focusing too much on his private life and not enough on the country's many problems, including rising prices and flagging consumer confidence.

Now they are wed, Mr. Sarkozy might find it easier to manage the relationship because BMs. runi will become the first lady of France and will start travelling with him on his many overseas trips.Mr. Lebel said the wedding took place in a room on the first floor of the Elysee Palace and lasted about 20 minutes.

"There were around 20 people there, close family and a few friends," he said. The mayor said the last French head of state to marry while in office was Napoleon III in 1853.

Mr. Sarkozy, 53, separated from his second wife Cecilia last October following an 11-year marriage and just five months after winning power. His colleagues said he was deeply upset by the divorce.However, friends say he started seeing 40-year-old Bruni the following month and they were photographed visiting Paris Disneyland together in December. They then spent the Christmas holidays together in Egypt and Jordon.Photos of the glamorous couple sparked a media backlash against Mr. Sarkozy, who was widely described as "president Bling Bling", obsessed by the rich and famous. One opposition leader dubbed him a modern-age Louis XIV, France's "Sun King."

Their quickfire relationship also surprised many in his entourage.

Ms. Bruni, 40, has been portrayed as a man-eater in the press and has previously been linked with rock stars Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton, as well as U.S. businessman Donald Trump and French former Socialist Prime Minister Laurent Fabius.While she is a well-known leftist sympathizer, Mr. Sarkozy is a right-winger, viewed as a law and order hardliner.Mr. Sarkozy's own mother urged him not to re-marry after his divorce and Ms. Bruni herself has spoken out against marriage. "I'm monogamous from time to time, but I prefer polygamy and polyandry," she told the Figaro Madame magazine a year ago.

She has a son from a previous relationship, while Mr. Sarkozy has two grown-up sons from his first marriage, and a third son from his marriage to Cecilia.Ms. Bruni threw a surprise birthday party for Mr. Sarkozy last week at her plush Paris home and friends say the pair are extremely happy together.

RTL radio said Mr. Sarkozy's witness at the wedding was Nicolas Bazire, a senior figure in the LVMH luxury goods group, while Ms. Bruni's witness was Mathilde Agostinelli, head of communications at Prada France.The radio station also quoted Bernadette Chirac, wife of previous French President Jacques Chirac, as saying getting married at the Elysee, the president's official residence, was "a wonderful thing".

"I want to express all my best wishes to this new household. She is very, very beautiful," she added.

Reuters © 2008