FRENCH ELECTION UPDATE :: ROYAL AND HOLLANDE DISSOLVE 'GOLDEN COUPLE' OF THE FRENCH LEFT

- The "golden couple" of the French left -- Segolene Royal and Francois Hollande -- came to an end on Sunday, weeks after the Socialists suffered a painful defeat in their presidential bid.

Royal, whose hopes of becoming France's first woman president were dashed last month by Nicolas Sarkozy, confirmed what had been rumoured for some time.

She said in a book to be published this week that Hollande, the leader of the Socialist Party and the father of her four children, had been having an affair and that she had asked him to leave their home.

Royal, 53, met Hollande, 52, in 1978 while studying at the elite Ecole National d'Administration (ENA) and were drawn to each other by their shared leftist ideals.

Both are considered members of a generation that was groomed in the 1980s under Socialist president Francois Mitterrand.

In 1988 Royal was elected to the National Assembly and four years later had her first cabinet post at the environment ministry. In the Socialist government of 1997 to 2002 she was junior minister for education, then for the family.

Born in Senegal, Royal was one of eight children of a military officer from Lorraine in northeast France.

Hollande has led his partner's political party for 10 years, and was until recently seen as a possible French president himself.

A genial figure whose balding portliness is in marked contrast to the Royal smiling beauty, Hollande had to swallow hard during the presidential campaign as his partner's policy pronouncements repeatedly parted company from Socialist orthodoxy.

Most embarrassing was the moment when Royal's official spokesman described Hollande as "her most serious problem." The spokesman was suspended for a month.

News of the separation came after parliamentary elections that handed a huge majority to Sarkozy's right-wing party, cementing his hold on authority -- even though the Socialists did better-than-expected increasing their seats in the National Assembly from 149 to 202-210 seats.

In the book, Royal confirmed that she will be a candidate to replace Hollande as first secretary of the Socialist Party, a position he has held for the past 10 years and which he says he will give up next year.

While she remains the Socialists' most popular politician, Royal is contested by senior figures in the party, who believe she is chiefly to blame for the defeat in last month's presidential election.

There were recurring rumours about the couple during the campaign for the presidency but Royal, in a book released in March, denied any breakup, saying that they still lived together.

But another book released at the end of last month claimed that her relationship with Hollande was in crisis, prompting Royal and Hollande to lodge a suit in court for 150,000 euros (200,000 dollars) in damages.

“I have asked Francois Hollande to leave our home, to pursue his love interest”

They show themselves to more like Hillary and Her Hino every day.

More dirt on the French sham marriage from The Toqueville Connection

FRANCE’S ROYAL SPLITS FROM PARTNER

- Defeated French Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal said on Sunday she has split from her partner, party leader Francois Hollande, after accusing him in a new book of having an affair.

“I have asked Francois Hollande to leave our home, to pursue his love interest which is now laid out in books and newspapers and I wish him happiness,” Royal said in an interview for the book to be published Wednesday.

Speculation about the couple has been rife for months.
In the book, Royal did not name the other woman in
Hollande’s life but said she and the Socialist leader “remain on good terms. We talk to each other. There is mutual respect.”

She asked that Hollande no longer be described as her “partner” because, she said: “That is no longer the case.”

Excerpts were released as Socialists welcomed in a better-than-expected performance in France’s parliamentary elections on Sunday, although President Nicolas Sarkozy’s right-wing camp won a comfortable majority.

Speaking on French radio late Sunday, Royal confirmed that she and Hollande had decided to end their relationship.

“For some time, guesses and rumours had been circulating about me and Francois Hollande. I think there comes a point when you have to clarify things and say quite simply we have decided not to be together anymore,” she said.

“Like all couples, we have had our share of problems. I decided to put these problems on hold during the presidential and the legislative campaigns,” Royal said. “It was also necessary in order for me to protect my children.”

“Today we are moving on to a new stage. It is important to say things as they are, and to have everything out in the open.”

Royal announced her plans in a book by AFP journalists Christine Courcol and Thierry Masure, “Behind the Scenes of Defeat” (”Les Coulisses d’une Defaite”), which is to be published Wednesday.

Royal, 53, and Hollande, 52, had been together for more than 25 years and have four children: Thomas, Clemence, Julien and Flora, aged between 22 and 14.

Hollande’s role in Royal’s failed presidential campaign has been criticised and he has said he will stand down as the Socialist Party’s first secretary. Royal confirmed in the book that she is a candidate to take over.

While she remains the Socialists’ most popular politician, Royal is contested by senior figures in the party who blame her for losing the presidential race to Nicolas Sarkozy.

Royal and Hollande met in 1978 while studying at the elite Ecole National d’Administration (ENA) in Paris and said they were attracted by their shared leftist ideals.

They were leaders of the generation of left-wingers groomed in the 1980s and early 1990s under Socialist president Francois Mitterrand.

Royal held minor cabinet posts in the 1990s but became a national figure in 2005 when she declared she would run for the presidency.

There were recurring rumours about the Royal-Hollande couple during the campaign for the presidency but Royal, in a book released at the end of March, denied any breakup, saying that they still lived together.

Royal even suggested in the earlier book that the pair had discussed plans for a “romantic” wedding in Tahiti.

But another book released last month claimed that her relationship with Hollande was in crisis, prompting Royal and Hollande to lodge a suit in court for 150,000 euros (200,000 dollars) in damages.

Former prime minister Laurent Fabius, who had been Royal’s rival for the presidential nomination, said the breakup was a “private decision” that did not concern the party.

Socialist senator Jean-Luc Melenchon added: “We sympathize because there is no such thing as a happy divorce.”

France is seeing a new openness in the private lives of its politicians.

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