Signed By Edna Louisa Harper

November 12, 2008


Beverly Hills , USA – French First Lady and former supermodel Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has found herself embroiled in a war of words with Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister.

During a recent official visit to Russia , Berlusconi said that the American president-elect Barack Obama is “young, handsome and tanned”. Reputed for being extremely wealthy, yet particularly tasteless and crass, Berlusconi remarks failed to get many smiles. And when Mrs. Bruni-Sarkozy got wind of them, she felt compelled to denounce them in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche.

“When I hear Silvio Berlusconi take the matter so lightly and joke that Obama is ‘still tanned’, it astonishes me. Let’s just say that it’s humour… But often, I am very happy to have become French!”

This frank rebuke motivated Berlusconi’s surrogates to strike back against the French First Lady. Francesco Cossiga, former president of Italy declared, "We too are indeed happy that she is no longer Italian. I would go as far to say that we are very happy!”

Then going further, Cossiga made an extremely personal attack against Mrs. Bruni-Sarkozy. “But who knows? In her tumultuous life, Carla Bruni may one day end up having to ask for her Italian citizenship back”.

My, my, my! This is turning into an ugly event and all due to the fact that that Berlusconi’s joke, though in the poorest of tastes, is ruffling so many feathers. But before coming to his defence, Cossiga should be careful to remind himself that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is one of the most powerful leaders in the world at the moment and most likely will not take kindly to any personal attacks on his wife.