Sarkozy and Bruni

London, Dec. 17: Rumours of romance are swirling around Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, after he was photographed at the weekend with a former supermodel.

The recently divorced 52-year-old visited Disneyland in Paris with Carla Bruni, a top model-turned-singer.

They made little attempt to hide the fact that they were there together, although none of the photographs showed them any closer than shoulder to shoulder. The President’s office would not comment on the status of the two.

But the daily Le Figaro, seen as close to the conservative President, has run a front-page image of Bruni, a dark-haired, blue-eyed Italian, over the headline “Carla Bruni: The President’s Girlfriend.” Bruni, who lives in France and is the heiress to a tyre manufacturing fortune, has previously made headlines with her choice of boyfriend.

The 39-year-old has been linked in the past with singers Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton. Sarkozy split from his second wife, Cecilia, in October. They had been married for 11 years and have five children: two each from their first marriages and their own son.