French President Linked To Supermodel

Paris France The Web site of respected news weekly L'Express published a photo of the two on their visit to the theme park and at least two other magazines said they would run the images.

by The Associated Press

Published: Tue, December 18, 2007 - 5:20 am CST Last Updated: Tue, December 18, 2007 - 5:29 am CST

PARIS (AP) Recently divorced French President Nicolas Sarkozy's new love interest is supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni, news reports said Monday, after the two were photographed together at Disneyland Paris.

The Web site of respected news weekly L'Express published a photo of the two on their visit to the theme park, and at least two other magazines said they would run the images.

The president's office would not comment on the status of the two. But the daily Le Figaro, seen as close to the conservative president, ran a front-page image of the Italian-French Bruni on Monday over the headline "Carla Bruni: The President's Girlfriend."

Christophe Barbier, the editor of L'Express, said he called Bruni, whom he described as a friend, before going public with the story.

"She confirmed the relationship," he said.

Sarkozy and Bruni visited Disneyland on Saturday, when the park was thronged with visitors, L'Express reported. Several photographers were reportedly on hand and openly snapped the pair, who seemed at ease with the attention.

Colombe Pringle, editor of Point de Vue magazine, said she believed Sarkozy and Bruni made themselves available to photographers deliberately.

"Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni wanted people to know," she told France-Info radio. "Otherwise, I don't know why they would have gone to Eurodisney to look at the Mickey (Mouse) parade."

Point de Vue's cover said they visited the theme park "en famille," suggesting they were there with one or more of their respective children, though it was not immediately clear which of them.

Sarkozy, 52, basked in the media spotlight in his long race to the presidency leading up to his May election. He bristled, however, at intense media attention to the end of his tempestuous marriage to Cecilia Sarkozy, a former model. The two divorced two months ago.

Bruni, a supermodel who won critical and public acclaim for her first folk album in 2003, has been linked in the past to a range of famous men, from rocker Mick Jagger to mogul Donald Trump.

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