The pressure of the French presidential election has put Carla Bruni under so much stress she has stopped breastfeeding her baby daughter, it was claimed on Monday.
The angst- ridden First Lady, 44, is suffering from a “ real psychological shock” at the brutality of the insults levelled at her husband during his campaign, France’s Closer magazine reported.
The former supermodel is “ crying frequently” and “ lashing out at friends” as the intense battle for the Elysee Palace reaches its final week, the magazine said.
It added: “ Her easygoing nature of 2009 has gone. Today even her sleep is disturbed, which is forcing her to take better care of herself and as a result stop breast- feeding little Guilia, which she wanted to do until she was eight months old.
“ She is living through the worst moments of her time as First Lady, not just because she doesn’t know what will happen on May 6, but also because she can’t stand the violence of the election campaign.” The magazine said friends of Bruni had revealed her “ frail and nervous” state as this Sunday’s election day looms, with Nicolas Sarkozy trailing in the polls.
The magazine said: “ The violent verbal attacks her husband is being subjected to seem to be a real psychological shock for her.
“ Unused to the dealings of the political world, Carla has discovered the unprecedented brutality that he is the target of.
“ And she is reacting like she has been skinned alive, devastated by the smallest insult or criticism of her president husband.
“ Despite four years of marriage to Nicolas Sarkozy in the highest echelons of power, Carla is ultimately not prepared for these attacks, which she is reacting to like they are aimed at her personally.
“ While she should have been resting with her daughter Guilia and her mother and sister, instead she joined him on the campaign trail.
“ Her husband even confided on April 22, ‘ I told her to rest, but she does not want to stop’. Her anxiety is such that she cries frequently, and loses her temper even with those closest to her. Her family also is worried at seeing Carla so beaten down by the effects of the campaign.” Bruni said in an interview in March that all she wanted to be was “ an asset” to her husband as he campaigned to be elected for another five- year term. She said: “ I’m there right by his side whenever he needs me and I support him 100 per cent.” And she also expressed her own fears that her husband’s “ 20- hour working days” and “ unimaginable sense of duty” could eventually kill him. Bruni added: “ I’m afraid for his health. It might seem crazy but because he gives so much of himself that he doesn’t look after himself at all. He has an unimaginable sense of duty that he brings home to the house in the evenings, which is there all the time.
“ He never stops, he never lets up, he works all the time.
He works, I don’t know, 20 hours a day.
“ So I’m frightened that he’ll die, all of a sudden, because he’s pushing himself too hard.” And a month earlier, the 56- year- old French leader had said he would “ rather become a monk” than return to politics if he does not win.
Asked about her husband’s plans to quit if he is defeated, Bruni added: “ What do you expect him to do after being president of France? Become a minister again? Become a mayor?”
‘ Her anxiety is such that she cries frequently, and loses her temper even with those closest to her’