French president and wife divorce
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Cecilia, have divorced after 11 years of marriage and months of questions about their relationship, a precedent-setting split and a personal blow to a popular president who has faced few setbacks.
By Agencies |
PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Cecilia, have divorced after 11 years of marriage and months of questions about their relationship, a precedent-setting split and a personal blow to a popular president who has faced few setbacks.
In a terse, 15-word statement, Sarkozy’s office said Thursday the two were separating by mutual consent and would not comment further on the decision. The couple’s lawyer, Michele Cahen, said on Europe-1 radio that the two were heard by a judge who had granted their divorce.
“It went very well. There was not the slightest difficulty,” she said. Although other French leaders have had extramarital affairs, Sarkozy is the first French president to divorce while in power.
The announcement raised questions about how the couple could secure a divorce so quickly. No one in the president’s office would explain. Sarkozy is in the middle of his first major political challenge — strikes Thursday that hobbled transport nationwide.
But he appears unfazed, and has given no hint that his marital troubles will dent his determination to push ahead with his ambitious program of economic, political and social reforms for France.
In the past week, as speculation about his marriage escalated, he continued to present an image of business as normal. He was in Portugal on Thursday for an EU summit.
Nicolas and Cecilia Sarkozy split for a few months in 2005, and she had seemed ill at ease as first lady since her husband’s election in May.
In a terse, 15-word statement, Sarkozy’s office said Thursday the two were separating by mutual consent and would not comment further on the decision. The couple’s lawyer, Michele Cahen, said on Europe-1 radio that the two were heard by a judge who had granted their divorce.
“It went very well. There was not the slightest difficulty,” she said. Although other French leaders have had extramarital affairs, Sarkozy is the first French president to divorce while in power.
The announcement raised questions about how the couple could secure a divorce so quickly. No one in the president’s office would explain. Sarkozy is in the middle of his first major political challenge — strikes Thursday that hobbled transport nationwide.
But he appears unfazed, and has given no hint that his marital troubles will dent his determination to push ahead with his ambitious program of economic, political and social reforms for France.
In the past week, as speculation about his marriage escalated, he continued to present an image of business as normal. He was in Portugal on Thursday for an EU summit.
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Nicolas and Cecilia Sarkozy split for a few months in 2005, and she had seemed ill at ease as first lady since her husband’s election in May.
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