Carla Bruni  

No Promises From Carla: Carla Bruni

Nicholas Sarkozy, the President of France, has reportedly asked Carla Bruni to marry him. She is, no doubt, thinking about this on her present holiday in Egypt with him. If Bruni becomes the French First Lady, it will just be the icing on the cake for this beautiful supermodel turned musician.

Born in Turin, Italy in 1967, Bruni was the heiress to the Italian tyre giant, CEAT, founded by her grandfather. The Bruni-Tedeschi's were an influential Italian family from the north. Carla grew up in a Piedmontese castle which was founded in the 11th century, surrounded by luxury. Here Carla's father, Alberto, created a gorgeous 18th-century interior which was widely praised.

When Carla was five the family moved to France to escape the kidnappings and murders of the notorious Italian terrorists, the Red Brigade. She went to school in France and boarding school in Switzerland. Ambitious and clever, she began studying art and architecture at the University of Paris, but left at 19 to become a model on her brother's advice.

Her tall, slim figure, bright blue eyes and dark hair soon attracted the attention of modelling agencies and she was signed by City Models. After advertising for Guess? Jeans, she worked for famous fashion houses such as Dior, Chanel and Versace.

She became the highest-paid model in France and earned $7.5 million a year.

But the consumerist world of modelling was never enough for Bruni. Her love for music and the arts remained very strong. Music came naturally to this daughter of a classical composer and a mother who was a concert pianist. When she was young the family would sing with friends such as the opera singer, Maria Callas, and the conductor, Herbert von Karajan. Bruni agreed with her mother's statement in the English newspaper, the Independent, that: "...she could love a man who wasn't handsome or physically strong, but that she could not love a man who didn't love music." The idea of becoming a musician herself like her parents was always at the back of her mind.

The attractive supermodel had a penchant for rich and powerful men. This caused scandal when they were married. Jerry Hall was not amused when Carla became the 'other woman' in Mick Jagger's life. She was also linked to Eric Clapton, Donald Trump and handsome actor, Kevin Costner.

Bruni eventually settled down with the Frenchman, Raphael Enthoven, after another scandal. She lived with his father, the philosopher, Jean-Paul Enthoven, for some years but fell in love with his son, Raphael, who was ten years younger and married. She wrote a love song about him called 'Raphael'. This led to a bitter divorce from his wife, Justine Levy. Levy took her revenge by writing a book, Nothing Important, about how Bruni 'took' her husband. In the book, a model turned rock-star steals the main character's husband and then writes a song about him. The book sold 200,000 copies in France. All of this, of course, caused a sensation in France.

The model was, understandably, upset at the accusations. Bruni said that Enthoven was already divorcing Levy when she met him.

Raphael and Bruni had a son in 2001, called Aurelien.

Bruni apparently likes the scandals. She said that: "I'd rather be called a predator than an old flea-bag. Predator — it's not that bad for a woman."

She also said that: "I'm monogamous occasionally but I prefer polygamy and polyandry. Love lasts a long time but burning desire, two to three weeks."

In 1997 Bruni turned to one of her great loves, music, and recorded her first album in 2002 called Somebody Told Me which sold 2 million copies. It was hated by most critics but a British one called it 'deliciously languorous' according to the Independent.

^{Carla Bruni in : Promo for Those Dancing Days are gone by Carla Bruni} Her new album, No Promises, with poems by such writers as Yeats and Emily Dickinson, set to music hasn't been as successful. She was helped by her friend, the singer, Marianne Faithful, who taught her a lot about English and American poetry. Bruni's voice is much lighter than Faithful's but not unlike hers in its thin, 'barely there' characteristic.

Bruni's politics have tended to be left-wing and she criticised Sarkozy for wanting to clamp down on illegal immigration to France and just have 'useful' migrants. The left-wing press may revile her now for being the girlfriend of a conservative president.

However, Sarkozy's appearances with a much younger (he is 52) and beautiful woman on his arm will certainly improved his reputation with many of the French. But it's a big risk for Sarkozy as Bruni obviously lives up to the name of her recent album. Becoming First Lady of France must have a big allure for Bruni, given her liking for powerful men. It will be interesting to see whether this romance lasts.

Lisa‒Anne Sanderson