Paris (ANTARA News) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy and pop singer and former supermodel Carla Bruni tied the knot last Thursday at the Elysee Palace, the daily L`Est Republicain reported Monday on its website, citing an anonymous source with ties to a witness at the ceremony.
The weekly Le Journal du Dimanche had reported that Sarkozy, who will turn 53 on January 28, and the 39-year-old Bruni would marry in February.
But L`Est Republicain said the French president decided to push up the date because of the diplomatic problems raised by their marital status on official trips to countries with strict religious values.
This week Sarkozy travelled to Saudi Arabia without Bruni because contacts between unmarried or unrelated men and women are punished there by whipping.
The French president is scheduled to travel to India on January 24 to sign a number of important economic contracts and take part in celebrations commemorating the establishment of the Indian constitution.
The visit of the unmarried couple had provided a number of headaches for Indian authorities because they did not know how to receive her, since she was not the first lady of France, Indian media reported.
“This is the first time we`ve been faced with a problem like this,” an official with the Indian Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying, and added that discussions were being held by Indian and French authorities to resolve the issue.
Sarkozy`s head of communication, Franck Louvrier, and his official spokesman, David Martinon, refused to comment on the report, saying that it was part of his private life, AFP reported.
But, asked earlier this month if he and Bruni would marry, Sarkozy had coyly replied, “You will hear about it after it has happened.”(*)