Sarkozy appears to confirm marriage rumours

FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy said yesterday his relationship with model-turned-singer Carla Bruni is “serious”, and he suggested that wedding plans are in the works.

“There is a strong chance that you will learn about it after it’s already done,” he said at a wide-ranging news conference.

The Journal du Dimanche newspaper reported at the weekend that a wedding is expected for early February, prompting Mr Sarkozy to joke: “It isn’t the [newspaper] that will set the date.”

Mr Sarkozy’s romance reportedly started shortly after he and his second wife, Cecilia Sarkozy, divorced three months ago.

Mr Sarkozy, 52, and Bruni, a 40-year-old Italian-born French model with a successful folk music career, have since been photographed together in recent weeks in locations from Disneyland Paris to the pyramids in Egypt.

“You’ve understood: it is serious,” Mr Sarkozy said when asked about their relationship.

The conservative president has been accused of publicising his relationship with Ms Bruni to try to distract from a dramatic recent slide in polls.

Mr Sarkozy’s approval rating stands around 48% — a drop of seven points in a month, and a sharp departure from his highest level, 65%, in July, according to a recent poll from the CSA agency.