Charles Bremner's Paris blog

Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz, the former wife of Nicolas Sarkozy, inadvertently dampened an attempt yesterday by the French President to recast his battered image before an expected rout of his party in local government elections on Sunday.

Mr Sarkozy sought to restore his reputation amid distaste over his showy private life by giving an interview to Le Figaro in which he admitted mistakes. But the article caused amusement after the newspaper printed it beside an advertisement for Versace.

The fashion house had just announced that it was going to dress Mr Sarkozy’s ex-wife and Richard Attias, the man for whom she left him, at their wedding in New York on March 22. The whole party will wear Versace, the company boasted in a publicity release after Le Figaro had gone to press.

The Versace gaffe was broadcast by France Inter radio — the equivalent of Radio 4. The advertisement was “a grain of sand which has jammed the well-oiled machine of Nicolas Sarkozy’s interview with Le Figaro”, the station said.

Mr Sarkozy was deeply shaken by his divorce from Cécilia Ciganer, 50, in October. A month later he threw himself into a very public romance with Carla Bruni, 40, an Italian supermodel, whom he married on February 2. His behaviour during his courtship is largely blamed for his crash in approval ratings to less than 35 per cent, among the lowest for any French president.

Mr Sarkozy told Le Figaro: “I am not exonerating myself over anything,” but insisted that he did not want to dwell on his mistakes. He would not be deterred from pursuing his drive to reform France, whatever happened in this month’s elections.

He indicated that he was aware that the overexposure of his private life had cost him support. “I am someone who does not put on appearances and that can surprise people,” he said. “But at the same time, the role of head of state is to keep a certain distance from daily events. He does not have the right to give in to agitation.”

Agité is a word commonly used to express disapproval of Mr Sarkozy’s hectic style. In the past month he has sworn at a man who refused to shake his hand at the Paris agricultural show and started criminal proceedings against Le Nouvel Observateur magazine over a text message that it claims he sent to his former wife.

The former Mrs Sarkozy has been summoned by police, who want to know if she received a message from the President one week before his marriage. According to the magazine, the message said: “If you come back, I will cancel everything.” The future Mrs Attias has said nothing to confirm or deny the message, which Mr Sarkozy’s lawyers say never existed.

Mr Sarkozy persuaded his wife to return to him in late 2005 after she first ran off with Mr Attias in 2004. His attempts to keep his visibly reluctant wife were a running story throughout the first months of his presidency last summer. Le Figaro said that it was the victim of unlucky timing. “It was pure chance,” said Paul Henri du Limbert, the political editor. “We heard about Versace late yesterday evening and the page had already been set.”

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