Bruni likely to visit the Taj alone

Paris: Carla Bruni could find herself emulating Princess Diana when her new boyfriend, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, goes on a two-day visit to India next week.

As officials thrash out the protocol problems of a president arriving with a girlfriend not a wife - unless reports of their marriage last week are true - the Italian former supermodel could well end up visiting the Taj Mahal alone.

The princess's solo visit to the great marble mausoleum near Agra in 1992 heralded the beginning of the collapse of her marriage to Prince Charles.

Built in the seventeenth century by Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, the Taj Mahal is perhaps the world's greatest monument to love.

Sarkozy, 52, divorced his wife of 11 years, Cecilia, in October and met Miss Bruni the following month. The Indian Government said it was waiting for a clue from France on her presence and status before deciding where to put her in official banquets. There remains the crucial question of where Bruni should sit to watch the Republic Day parade on January 26, India's biggest celebration of the year. Sarkozy is guest of honour.

His diplomatic aides are said to have tried unsuccessfully to persuade the president to prolong the official part of his visit, in which he is to conduct sensitive talks on nuclear and defence deals. He reportedly shortened it in order to visit the Taj Mahal in private with Bruni.

There have been mixed signals from the Indian Government over whether her presence poses a problem. Saudi Arabia bluntly told Sarkozy to turn up without his girlfriend for a visit last weekend.

One presidential aide is reported to have exclaimed: "In two thirds of the countries of the world it is impossible for Carla to officially sleep in the same bedroom as the president. The problem is the president doesn't know how to stay on his own at night in his room."

Sarkozy has seen his popularity ratings slide in the polls since Christmas. On Friday he sought to win back La France profonde by visiting the Burgundy town of Sens, where he denied that France was in a recession.