Paris: France’s First Lady Valerie Trierweiler was on Saturday facing the prospect of becoming the first in history to be kicked out of the Elysee Palace.
It follows humiliating revelations that her partner, President Francois Hollande, has “fallen in love” with a woman almost 20 years his junior.
Hollande’s relationship with actress Julie Gayet, 41, was exposed by a series of pictures in French Closer magazine, which show him travelling to see her on a moped.
But beyond a new romance, opponents claim the scandal exposes publicly funded deceit, security lapses, and the huge cost of a first lady who no longer has any legitimacy.
Hollande, who turns 60 this year, was poised to make a statement to “clarify” the position of 48-year-old divorcee Trierweiler. She currently has five staff working for her at her office as well as numerous other taxpayer-funded perks, including homes across France, private jets and limousines.
As anger at the scandal grew, politicians suggested Trierweiler’s position was already untenable.
“Is it normal that she stays at the Elysee on taxpayers’ money while the President has other relationships,” said MP Daniel Fasquelle. He added: “So who is France’s first lady now?”
Georges Fenech, of the opposition UMP, even suggested that both Hollande and Trierweiler should quit the Elysee.
“The question of the resignation of Francois Hollande needs to be posed, before the values upon which our nation is based are not completely destroyed,” he said. “How can we not deplore this intolerable attack on the image of France?”
He said it was outrageous Hollande was using “bodyguards paid for with public funds” to attend secret trysts with Gayet, who has two children with her estranged husband, Argentinian film director Santiago Amigorena, 51.
Trierweiler has made no official comment, but friends have confirmed that she is “incensed and humiliated”.
There were even claims that she and Hollande have been living separate lives for months and that the president is keen to “formalise” his relationship with Gayet.
Photographers from French Closer, who watched a Paris flat a few hundred yards from the Elysee for several days, said Hollande regularly met his lover there, wearing a crash helmet when entering and leaving the building in a weak attempt at disguise.
Both Hollande and Gayet have pledged to take action over alleged breaches of privacy following the exposure of their affair, though neither denies it.
