French First Lady Valerie Trierweiler attends the Christian Dior show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2014.
Credit: Getty Images
Former French first lady Valérie Trierweiler embarked on a long-planned trip to India soon after news of President François Hollande’s affair and subsequent separation from her broke.
But what’s next for the disliked and disgraced former first lady of France? Metro spoke with Anne Rovan, chief political reporter at Le Figaro, the French daily.
Metro: What’s next for Valérie Trierweiler? Can she become a public figure or does the French public want her to leave the public sphere?
Rovan: It’s difficult to say whether she has a chance of becoming a public figure since this is the first time we have this situation. French people don’t like her, but after the first few days in the hospital where she rested after the news broke, she left in a relatively dignified fashion, so people might change their opinion of her.
Will she inflict further damage on Hollande by, for example, publishing a tell-all book?
When she was in Mumbai and when she got back, she said she has good relations with Hollande, so it doesn’t seem as if she plans to inflict further damage. But he’s already been damaged. Before the affair, he wasn’t popular, but 50 percent of people thought he was a good and sincere man. Now that figure will drop.
Has public sympathy for Julie Gayet increased?
We still don’t know anything about her because she hasn’t said anything. She’s a good actress, but she’s not that famous, though now she’s more famous than she used to be.
Who’s the winner in this affair?
There’s no winner. The affair is not automatically good for Hollande’s rival Nicolas Sarkozy.
