First lady of France accused of smashing up François Hollande’s office in £2.5m rampage

Valerie Trierweiler insists she is still France’s first lady, despite lurid claims she caused £2.5 million of damage after hearing about François Hollande’s alleged affair, it emerged today.

The Élysée Palace soap opera reached new depths with unverified claims that the spurned 48-year-old smashed up President Hollande’s office and tried to attack him.

A Louis XVI Sèvres vase was among the national treasures claimed to have been smashed to pieces as the notoriously volatile Ms Trierweiler allegedly went on the rampage.

As the claims swirled around French media, a spokesman for the Mobilier National — the office responsible for presidential furniture — “categorically” denied them.

However, the new edition of Closer magazine, which first carried pictures showing Mr Hollande’s alleged two-year affair with actress Julie Gayet, today ran the headline: “The truth about the clean-up which cost the state three million euros.”

It suggests the false claims have been stirred by Ms Trierweiler’s enemies, one of whom told the magazine she “always puts her emotions first”.

After spending eight days in hospital with stress, she is now staying in La Lanterne, the presidential home in Versailles, but it warns that she is determined to travel to Washington in February as first lady, despite claims that Mr Hollande wants to formally separate from her. Meanwhile, says Closer, Ms Gayet held a party for friends and family to celebrate her relationship with Mr Hollande being made public.

A photograph of a smiling Ms Gayet is also on the cover of the latest Paris Match magazine, in which the 41-year-old is seen walking near her parents’ country estate in Gers, south-west France.

The news will infuriate Ms Trierweiler, who has been a staff writer on Paris Match for more than 20 years, even holding on to the job when she became first lady in 2012.

Both women have used the media to bolster their careers, and their strong links with France’s most intrusive popular magazines will further embarrass Mr Hollande, who has tried to hide behind France’s strict privacy laws to prevent news of his colourful love life being made public.

Earlier this week, his advisers said he should remain a “bachelor president” to avoid further scandal.

One said: “If there must be a split, it must be dignified and elegant regarding Valerie Trierweiler. Above all, Julie Gayet mustn’t instantly move into the Élysée.”

•Credit (except headline): London Evening Standard. Photo shows French First Lady, Ms Trierweiler, (L), President Hollande and his secret lover Mistress, Ms Gayet.

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