France was treated to an unprecedented spectacle yesterday as newspapers and radio shows aired the rumour that President Sarkozy was on the point of divorce from his wife, Cécilia.

Commentators, running roughshod over the long-standing Gallic taboo governing the private lives of public figures, said that an official announcement on the separation was imminent.

L’Est Républicain, the regional newspaper, said that the couple, whose tempestuous relationship has been the subject of intense speculation for months, were planning to make an announcement.

“Things should move pretty quickly, with divorce papers filed rapidly at the courts,” the daily said, quoting sources close to the French presidency.

L’Est Républicain said that the announcement was due last night, although other sources suggested it may be delayed until next week.

Swiss newspapers said that the 49-year-old Mrs Sarkozy was spotted in Geneva this week while her husband was on an official visit to see President Putin in Russia.

“The couple no longer live under the same roof,” said La Tribune de Genève, adding: “Cécilia Sarkozy no longer appears next to her husband, she no longer fulfils the role of French First Lady.” Le Nouvel Observateur, the weekly French magazine, said that Mr Sarkozy had poured out his troubles to Mikhail Saakashvili, his Georgian counterpart, when they met for the France-Georgia World Cup rugby match last month. It quoted Mr Sarkozy, 52, as saying: “Thankfully there is the rugby. With that you can forget all the rest.”

The Sarkozys have a ten-year-old son, Louis, and two children each from their first marriages.

A divorce settlement could be costly for the President, who declared a personal fortune of €2.5 million (£1.75 million) this year. However, Mrs Sarkozy is also reported to be wealthy.

Rumours about the state of their marriage have been swirling around Paris ever since the presidential election in May, when Mrs Sarkozy failed to vote in the second round. Her only official foreign visit with him was to the G8 summit in Germany in June, but she left before the end.

A glamorous former model whose father was born in Moldavia and mother in Spain, she was initially portrayed in the French press as a free spirit. Her role in the liberation of six Bulgarian medical staff held hostage in Libya — when she acted as her husband’s envoy — brought her widespread praise in France.

Public opinion began to turn against her when she pulled out of a family lunch with President Bush during the Sarkozys’ family holiday in America this summer. Her husband claimed that she had a sore throat.

She has made no public appearance in France since Bastille Day on July 14, sparking claims that her capriciousness could damage the presidency.

The couple’s marital difficulties first became public knowledge in 2005 when Mrs Sarkozy had a relationship with Richard Attias, a public relations consultant, with whom she was photographed in New York.

Mr Sarkozy responded by having an affair with a political journalist, and they bought household goods with the apparent intention of setting up home together. However, Mr Sarkozy was soon back with his wife. “Today, Cécilia and I are reunited for good, for real, doubtless for ever,” he wrote in his book, Testimony. “We are not able and do not know how to separate from each other.”

Asked whether the Sarkozys had split up again, David Martinon, Mr Sarkozy’s spokesman, said: “I have no comment to make on press rumours.”

United and divided

1984 The couple met when Nicolas, then mayor of Neuilly officiated at Cécilia’s first marriage, to Jacques Martin, a French TV personality

1989 Nicolas and Cécilia wed

2005 The Sarkozys separated for six months. Mrs Sarkozy moved to New York to live with Richard Attias, an advertising executive, while Mr Sarkozy had an affair with the journalist Anne Fulda

January 2, 2006 Mrs Sarkozy was reunited with her husband at Charles de Gaulle airport

May 6, 2007 Mrs Sarkozy failed to turn up to vote in the second round of the election

Source: Times archive

Times Recommends

• Would you live on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall?
• Wish you were here, says Iraq tourist board
• Russian policeman’s corruption plea to Putin