VALERIE TRIERWEILER, the former French first lady, has been "spirited" out of France after being dumped by President Francois Hollande.
She arrived in Mumbai in India after Hollande announced their split on Saturday evening, following revelations about his long-running an affair with French actress Julie Gayet.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
She had apparently wanted a dignified exit, says the Daily Telegraph, but it was "anything but" as she was "spirited out of France in a manner more befitting a fugitive than a former first lady, even a freshly jilted one".
Trierweiler was taken all the way to the runway at Charles de Gaulle airport by limousine and motorcycle police escort, and then arrived at Mumbai's Taj Mahal Palace hotel just after 1am on Sunday in another convoy of black limousines with two police jeeps for security.
Before her departure, one former French cabinet minister compared her to the late Princess Diana, who was famously pictured in front of the Taj Mahal during her own marital difficulties with Prince Charles.
Trierweiler's trip to Mumbai, which was planned months ago, is likely to be her "swansong as first lady", says The Times. The state bodyguard who has travelled with her to India will quit her service next week and she will be removed from the presidency's website.
Strictly speaking, Trierweiler was never actually first lady as she and Hollande never married. She is now in an unprecedented position of being a "first significant other" of a French president to be jilted in office.
Hollande has apparently agreed to continue paying the rent for the flat in Paris that they once shared while she looks for somewhere else. She may also be entitled to claim compensation for the humiliation and loss of earnings that she suffered because of him.
Sources in the president's office say that he has no intention of installing his latest mistress, actress Julie Gayet, as first lady. He apparently told advisers this weekend: "These women will have cost me dear."
-
How oil tankers have been weaponisedThe Explainer The seizure of a Russian tanker in the Atlantic last week has drawn attention to the country’s clandestine shipping network
-
The rise of the spymaster: a ‘tectonic shift’ in Ukraine’s politicsIn the Spotlight President Zelenskyy’s new chief of staff, former head of military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov, is widely viewed as a potential successor
-
5 critical cartoons about the deadly crackdown on protesters in IranCartoons Artists take on twinning, booed off stage, and more
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Will the mystery of MH370 be solved?Today’s Big Question New search with underwater drones could finally locate wreckage of doomed airliner
-
‘Lumpy skin’ protests intensify across France as farmers fight cullIN THE SPOTLIGHT A bovine outbreak coupled with ongoing governmental frustrations is causing major problems for French civil society
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Normalising relations with the Taliban in AfghanistanThe Explainer The regime is coming in from the diplomatic cold, as countries lose hope of armed opposition and seek cooperation on counterterrorism, counter-narcotics and deportation of immigrants
-
Pakistan: Trump’s ‘favourite field marshal’ takes chargeIn the Spotlight Asim Munir’s control over all three branches of Pakistan’s military gives him ‘sweeping powers’ – and almost unlimited freedom to use them
