'Everyone's eyes are on you': Valérie  Trierweiler on becoming the First Lady of France - and how she's NOT such a rottweiler after all

  • Valérie Trierweiler, 48, admitted that becoming First Lady was 'frightening'
  • Was afraid of being judged and had no idea of what awaited her
  • She has endured several crises since moving into the Élysée Palace

By Ruth Styles

Published: | Updated:

She's been described as a rottweiler, her partner's Achilles heel and has suffered unfavourable comparisons to her glamorous predecessor Carla Bruni. But although the media brickbats hurt, Valérie Trierweiler, partner of French President Francois Hollande, says she has no intention of doing things any way other than her own.

But formidable though she is, Trierweiler, 48, revealed in an interview with the Sunday Times that becoming First Lady of France was a 'frightening' experience that took her months to overcome.

'It’s very frightening at the beginning,' she told the paper. 'It’s staggering. You have absolutely no idea of what awaits you, and at the same time absolutely everyone has their eyes on you. I was frightened of being observed, judged.'

La Rottweiler: Despite the media brickbats, Valérie Trierweiler says she's far nicer than people realise

La Rottweiler: Despite the media brickbats, Valérie Trierweiler says she's far nicer than people realise

President Hollande with his former partner, Ségolène Royal
Valérie Trierweiler with Francois Hollande

Controversy: President Hollande's former partner Ségolène Royal (left) said Trierweiler has a 'Rebecca complex'

Since then, she's had to contend with the fallout from a very public spat with President Hollande's former wife, the socialist politician Ségolène Royal, and the publication of a succession of books, including one that alleged that she had an affair during her relationship with Hollande.

Another, Between Two Fires by investigative journalist Anna Cabana, described her as 'a cocktail of jealousy, vengeance and political calculation' while in a third, The Favourite, she was dubbed 'not normal, snooty, infatuated, explosive, unpredictable and visibly dangerous' by journalist Laurent Greilsamer.

Royal even went on record to say Trierweiler suffers from a 'Rebecca complex' - a reference to the Daphne du Maurier novel in which the protagonist is haunted by thoughts of her husband's first wife.

So bad did things become, at one point, Trierweiler admits she contemplated never setting foot inside the Élysée Palace [the French No. 10] again.

'There was a moment when I didn’t come at all,' revealed Trierweiler, who lives with Hollande in a West Paris apartment.

On duty: Trierweiler attending a White House summit with Michelle Obama and Japan's Hitomi Noda

On duty: Trierweiler attending a White House summit with Michelle Obama and Japan's Hitomi Noda

Grand amour: Trierweiler shares a tender moment with François Hollande after the latter's 2012 election victory

Grand amour: Trierweiler shares a tender moment with François Hollande after his 2012 election victory

Predecessor: Trierweiler is a more low maintenance First Lady than Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

Predecessor: Trierweiler is a more low maintenance First Lady than Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

'I could almost have never come back. Then, well, I got over all that and came back bit by bit.'

A year on from the Ségolène Royal controversy, Trierweiler is concentrating on causes close to her heart - in particular those aimed at helping the women of the Democratic Republic of Congo where rape is endemic  - and finding ways to help underprivileged French children.

Later this month, she will travel to Mali ahead of an official visit from President Hollande to promote local good causes and emphasise to the local population that dealings with France don't always have to come at the sharp end of a missile.

She does all this, as she can't resist pointing out, with far fewer aides than her predecessor - and all while continuing to hold down a job as a journalist.

One thing, though, hasn't changed. She is, she declares, as in love with her diminutive partner, as ever.

'What attracted me is [that] he has an enormous amount of charm and a lot of humour,' Trierweiler revealed.

'Above all, he has this vivacity, he’s more quick-witted than anyone I’ve known.'

And what does she say to those who claim she's the formidable madame to Hollande's genial 'Monsieur Normal'?

'He isn’t the nice one people think,' she says, 'and I’m not the nasty one people think. He’s much harder than people imagine. He isn’t spineless.'

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