She wore white and looked ravishing. He wore…we don’t know what, and looked, well…. shorter than her. Sarkozy and Bruni - four months in and already down the aisle. We know the French do ‘le grande passione’ like noone else. But is that not a whiff of “Carla’s up the duff, now get me to a church’ we smell? The Italian tabloids are already crying shotgun wedding - and we're inclined to agree. 

So aside from money and power, (both heedy aphrodisiacs), what’s Sarkozy got? Undoubtedly the French Premiere is an ultra smooth operator. Cashmere coats, intellectual polo necks and Ray Ban Aviators, the evidence is all there. But still, snaring a lady like Bruni shows considerable skill. We put it to the jury that the French premier’s luck with the ladies stems from nothing more complicated than his love of living. Jetting round ultra chic Euro haunts without a care in the world, he’s rarely snapped without a champagne flute in his hand and a grin on his face.

This is a man who enjoys the good life and isn’t afraid to show it. While the French find Sarkozy’s love-life both vulgar and impulsive (in equal measure) we think it’s all rather good fun. Skipping around with a supermodel on your arm, wining, dining and generally feasting on the fruits of the continent. Decisions on foreign policy? ‘Not now. I’m in the middle of an apertivo!’ groans Sarko. Monsieur Sarkozy, you may be short, a touch smarmy and right wing, but when it comes to the ladies, you've got it going on.