French president François Hollande has separated from Valerie Trierweiler, his partner and until now France’s first lady, following reports two weeks ago that he was having an affair with a film actress.
“I wish to make it known that I have ended the life together that I shared with Valerie Trierweiler,” Mr Hollande announced in a brief statement to the French news agency AFP.
Pressure had mounted on Mr Hollande to clarify the status of their relationship after a gossip magazine revealed earlier this month photographs which it said proved Mr Hollande was having an affair with Julie Gayet, an actress and film producer.
The revelations caused an international media sensation just as Mr Hollande was in the process of unveiling an important shift to a pro-business policy in a bid to allay concerns about France’s slow rate of economic recovery and a record level of unemployment.
Although opinion polls in France suggested most people did not link the supposed affair to his performance as president, the news raised further questions over Mr Hollande’s standing at a time when his approval ratings are at record low levels. Opposition leaders said he was bringing the presidency into disrepute.
The magazine pictures showed a figure on the back of a scooter that appeared to be Mr Hollande arriving and leaving an assignation with Ms Gayet at a Paris apartment close to the Elysée Palace just before the new year. He deplored what he said was an invasion of his privacy, but he never denied the allegations.
His embarrassment was compounded when Ms Trierweiler, a journalist on Paris Match magazine, was admitted to hospital on the day of the affair revelations suffering from what was described as a “coup de blues” – or emotional exhaustion.
Mr Hollande and Ms Trierweiler had lived together since 2007 following the break-up of his previous relationship with Ségolène Royal, a former socialist presidential candidate, his partner for some 25 years and mother of his four children. He never married either Ms Trierweiler or Ms Royal.
Mr Trierweiler moved into the Elysée Palace with Mr Hollande after he won the presidential election in 2012. She assumed the role of first lady – although it has no official status in France – with a taxpayer-funded office. She accompanied Mr Hollande on foreign trips and had been due to go with him on a state visit to the White House next month.
Mr Hollande’s statement was precipitated by an announcement on Friday that Ms Trierweiler would go ahead on Sunday with a visit to India on behalf of Action against Hunger, a charity she supports. She will now do so in a private capacity.
It was notable that Mr Hollande, who next week will visit Turkey and the UK, specified in his statement that he had ended the relationship with Ms Trierweiler, rather than the two making a joint statement of a mutually-agreed separation.
Jean-Francois Copé, head of the opposition UMP party, said earlier on Saturday the issue had “reflected very negatively on the image of the presidency, notably abroad where the press coverage on France has been absolutely terrible”.