French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Cecilia have "divorced by mutual consent", the president's office said in a terse statement yesterday, ending rampant speculation about the state of their 11-year old marriage.

The French media reported earlier this week that the pair secretly saw a judge on Monday to formalize their split, but some experts have said Sarkozy cannot legally get divorced because as president he has immunity from all judicial actions.

It is the first time in modern French history that a serving president has divorced his wife and Sarkozy's reaction to the split will come under intense scrutiny.

Cecilia played a crucial role in his rise to power, serving as an adviser during his previous stints as interior and finance minister. Sarkozy himself vaunted their relationship, telling aides she was "the only non-negotiable part" of his career.

Gushing media compared France's first couple to America's glamorous John and Jackie Kennedy, but behind the glossy exterior, there were clear signs their marriage was flailing.

Cecilia played no public part in her husband's election campaign this year, did not vote for him in the second round and only appeared fleetingly alongside him at three public engagements since his May victory - the last time in July.

Rumors of the split have filled France's often prudish media in recent weeks and the story dominated yesterday's press, knocking a nationwide transport strike off the front pages.

"Desperate housewife," Liberation daily said in a headline.

The Sarkozy's relationship first hit the rocks in 2005, when they both had affairs and briefly lived apart.

He was visibly shaken by the episode, losing weight and appearing tetchy, leading some at the time to question his ability to govern under emotional duress.

However, the couple got back together again in a blaze of publicity at the start of 2006 and a delighted Sarkozy wrote soon afterwards he expected they would stay united forever.

They met in 1984 when Sarkozy, serving as a local mayor, officiated over her first marriage to a famous TV presenter. Sarkozy said he fell in love with Cecilia, a former model, almost immediately and he swiftly befriended the married couple.

Cecilia had two children in rapid succession but just five years later left her husband for Sarkozy, who was himself married. After securing their respective divorces they finally wed in 1996 and have a 10-year old son together.

During the early years, she rarely left his side, but as he inched nearer to the presidency, she seemed distracted.

"I don't see myself as a first lady. It bores me ," she said two years ago.

Persisting doubts about their marriage eased when she showed up at Sarkozy's inauguration wearing a golden robe, but her role puzzled many French.

After keeping a low profile, she unexpectedly traveled to Libya in July to help broker the release of Bulgarian medics convicted of infecting Libyan children with HIV.

France's opposition Socialists condemned the trip as media grandstanding and said she should testify before deputies about her unorthodox role. Sarkozy refused to let her go.

Agencies

(China Daily 10/19/2007 page10)