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Simran Sodhi
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 23
Unlike 2013 when French President Francois Hollande was accompanied by his former girlfriend Valerie Trierweiler to India, his current partner Julie Gayet will not be by his side during this tour.
Julie, a French actress, has been in a relationship the French President since 2014. The visits of French Presidents to India, in the recent past, have been dominated more by gossip. In 2008, India “politely denied” to accord the visiting
First Lady status to Carla Bruni, then girlfriend of then French President Nicolas Sarkozy. As a result, Bruni skipped India and Sarkozy, who was the guest at the 2008 Republic Day celebrations, visited the Taj Mahal alone.
By 2013, India had caught up with the rest of the world and relaxed its moral posturing. When Hollande decided to visit India in 2013, his then girlfriend Valerie Trierweiler was accorded the same status as that of a visiting First Lady. A former journalist, Trierweiler accompanied Hollande on all his official outings. Post their break-up, Trierweiler accused the French President of being cold and an egoist.
This time, Hollande will visit the country without his girlfriend and the seat usually reserved for the visiting First Lady will not be needed. As per protocol, the visiting First Lady sits in the front row of inspecting leaders with her husband, the Indian President, the Vice-President, the Prime Minister and their spouses. This time around, one chair will just be removed from the podium. Interestingly, Hollande will be accompanied by his ex-partner Segolene Royal with whom he has four children. She is a minister in the government and part of his official delegation.
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