PARIS (AFP) - President Nicolas Sarkozy and his girlfriend Carla Bruni are taking budget airline Ryanair to court over a photo of the couple featured in a recent ad campaign, their lawyer said Wednesday.
The photograph showed the couple smiling dreamily while a caption next to Bruni reads "With Ryanair, my whole family can come to my wedding".
Lawyer Thierry Herzog said the photo was used without the couples consent and a Paris court is to hear the complaint on Thursday.
Sarkozy is seeking a symbolic sum of one euro in damages while Bruni is demanding 500,000 euros (740,500 dollars) from Ryanair for violation of their right to privacy.
Sarkozy, 53, told a news conference this month that his relationship with the 40-year-old former model was "serious" and suggested they planned to marry.
The ad was featured in the popular Le Parisien newspaper on Monday, prompting the Elysee spokesman to complain that it was "unacceptable" to use the couple to promote cheap air fares to France.
In the complaint, the lawyer argued that Bruni had "never spoken of a future wedding" taking place before January 31 when the Ryanair seat sale ends, nor had she suggested that the ceremony "could take place in one of the destinations offered by Ryanair."
Ryanairs market director for France, Matthieu Glasson, earlier this week apologised for offending the president and defended the advertisement, saying it portrayed the couple "in a positive light."
"You could even say that it helps the president by showing him as close to the people, living a similar life, using the same brands," said Glasson.
In October, Sarkozy became the first French president to divorce while in office when he ended his stormy 11-year marriage to his second wife Cecilia.
He met Bruni in November and the couple have since travelled to Egypt and Jordan on vacation together.
Last month, Ryanair reached an out-of-court settlement with Swedens former prime minister Goeran Persson for using his picture in an ad campaign without his consent.
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