UNDER attack for his flashy style and volatile temperament, Nicolas Sarkozy is abandoning his Ray-Ban sunglasses to recast himself as a more “presidential” figure as he prepares for a stay at Windsor Castle with his glamorous wife next week as a guest of the Queen.

Advisers have told a humbled “Sarko” that he must change his habits if he is to win back the public’s affection. Their commandments include a ban on texting while in meetings – particularly with heads of state such as the Queen. He must not pick fights with members of the public or answer questions from journalists in his jogging shorts.

The “hyper-président” was also being urged to erect ramparts around his private life after being criticised for parading his whirlwind romance with Carla Bruni, the former supermodel and singer, whom he married last month.

“He spent too much time being seen doing things other than being president,” said an aide. “From now on he will be seen doing the job for which people elected him.”

Sarkozy, 53, who won office almost a year ago with a pledge to modernise France through social and economic reforms, has been humiliated by a sudden drop in popularity linked to his personal behaviour rather than his policies.

Known for a self-assured swagger and a combative demeanour, the pint-sized leader thrilled voters at first with his promise of “rupture” with the past and was ranked in opinion polls as the most popular president since Charles de Gaulle.

Some date the downturn to October last year when Cécilia, his second wife, divorced him, admitting that she was in love with Richard Attias, an events organiser. The two are to be married on Saturday in New York.

Just as shocking were reports that Sarkozy had been consulting text messages on his mobile phone during an audience with Pope Benedict. To the horror of French officials, he did the same thing in a meeting with the Chinese prime minister in Beijing.

“It is embarrassing,” said a French diplomat, “and extremely discourteous. You simply cannot do that sort of thing.”

His behaviour at an agricultural show, when he said “p*** off” to a member of the public who refused to shake his hand, did not help to make him seem any more presidential. Nor did his pursuit in court of a magazine which claimed that he had urged Cécilia, in a text message, to come back to him just days before his marriage to Bruni.

Cécilia denied receiving any such message. She did Sarkozy no favours, however, by claiming that he had a “behavioural problem” that she alone could control. In her absence, the task has fallen to others but only recently has the president begun to pay heed.

A relaunch of the presidential persona has become all the more essential after losses expected today in local elections in which three cities were at risk of falling to the Socialist opposition.

“The poor result in the elections is not a reaction against the government but against Nicolas Sarkozy’s style of presidency,” said Nicolas Baverez, an economist and historian. “The French people do not like it.”

Already the “adjustment”, as aides call it, is under way. Sarkozy, who had shown no qualms about being photographed with Bruni when he wooed her on the Nile or in the ancient pink city of Petra in Jordan, kept the paparazzi away from his honeymoon safari with her at the end of an official visit to South Africa.

The couple’s return to Paris aboard a scheduled flight was also part of the effort to set a better example: Sarkozy’s enjoyment of travelling in the jets of billionaire friends – as well as his taste for flashy watches and jewellery – had resulted in him being mocked as “president bling bling”.

In South Africa, despite the glare, he did not wear his Ray-Bans and was not once photographed in his jogging shorts.

Another clear sign of the change was the answer he gave when asked by a journalist last week if he was happy with Carla: “As it happens, yes,” he said, almost apologetically. Only a few weeks ago the same subject in a press conference had brought forth an angry, defensive tirade about presidents having as much right to happiness as anyone else.

Much to the relief of the presidential entourage, Bruni, whose previous exploits include posing in nothing but thigh-length leather boots for a Spanish magazine, has slipped comfortably into a demure new wardrobe to take on the role of France’s first lady. She was winning plaudits last week for her debut performance as hostess at a state banquet.

This was big progress after unpredictable Cécilia’s brief stint in the job and will help Sarkozy in his quest for more gravitas.

So will public appearances over the next few days that have been carefully selected to help him look presidential. On Tuesday he will pay homage to second world war resistance fighters killed in Haute-Savoie. On Friday he will launch a new naval submarine, Le Terrible.

Sarkozy seemed to acknowledge the pressure to change last week when he said, in reference to the prospect of local election losses: “The people will have spoken. I will naturally take into account what they express.”

Even, it seems, if he must put away his beloved Rolex.

The new, improved Sarko plans to be:

- More presidential, launching submarines, unveiling monuments

- Less showy, or ‘bling bling’, ditching his Ray-Bans and Rolex

- More even-tempered and less abusive in public

- More protective of his private life

- Less intent on grabbing the limelight

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