PARIS (AFP) - Carla Bruni insisted in her debut interview Wednesday that her marriage to French President Nicolas Sarkozy was for life and that she would put her pop star career on hold to become first lady.
"I am culturally Italian and I would not like to divorce," the former supermodel told LExpress week explaining the "instantaneous" love with the 53-year-old president that led to their whirlwind two-month romance and their wedding on February 2.
"So I am the first lady up until the end of my husbands mandate, and then his wife until death," said the 40-year-old heiress, who has in the past been linked to rock stars Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger, and once said monogamy "bores" her.
"I know that life can hold surprises, but thats what I hope for."
Bruni said she would put her musical career to one side after the release of her next album -- currently in production studios -- and that any profits from it would be donated to charity.
Her first album, released in 2002, "Quelquun ma dit", sold two million copies.
"I wont stop myself from writing and composing, but until the end of my husbands mandate, I probably wont record another album. After that, well see."
But she said she was determined to stamp her identity on her new role.
"Just as Nicolas is unlike his predecessors, I would also -- while respecting the dignity of the office, like to keep my own personality," said Bruni, who plans to keep her own flat as well as the Elysee apartment.
"I dont yet know what I can do as first lady, but I know how I want to do it: seriously," she told the weekly.
"I want to reassure the French. I am 40 years old, I am normal, serious, conscientious, simple if privileged.
"I loved being a model, I adore being a singer ... I am also proud and happy to be Frances first lady. I will do my best."
Sarkozys romance with Bruni became public in December -- two months after his divorce from his second wife Cecilia -- and they married in a private ceremony at the Elysee palace on February 2.
Bruni dismissed suggestions the marriage happened too fast:
"People tell me it all went to quickly. Thats wrong: between Nicolas and me it wasnt quick, it was instantaneous."
"Those in love have their own rhythm. Ours is up tempo.... It seems to me that with him nothing bad can happen.... With him a certain anxiousness Ive felt since childhood disappears."
But their celebrity courtship, jarring with the darkening mood of French voters worried about the economy, has been disastrous for Sarkozys image, sending his ratings tumbling.
The presidents approval rating has fallen 10 percentage points over the past month to hit this week a new low of 39 percent, sparking fears his popularity plunge could hurt his UMP party in municipal elections next month.
Bruni said she regretted the impression made by their luxury vacations: "It was only a few hours holiday but the images lasted weeks and weeks."
"The people believe, rightly, that the president should be working 24 hours a day."
She said she stood by her opposition to some Sarkozy policies, including on immigration, but that "its possible to talk with Nicolas... I wouldnt have married a man who doesnt let me think freely."
Brunis first interview provided an immediate test of her freedom of speech, however, as she was forced to make a public apology for comments comparing a French magazine to the wartime pro-Nazi press.
She rounded on the Nouvel Observateur, which is being sued by the Elysee for an online article reporting that the president text-messaged his ex-wife offering to call off his wedding to Bruni.
"The Nouvel Observateur has joined the ranks of the gossip press. If this kind of site had existed during the war, what would have happened with the denunciation of the Jews?" Bruni said in the interview with LExpress magazine.
Following a complaint from the Nouvel Observateur, LExpress printed an apology from the first lady on its website:
"I wrongly compared the methods used by websites to those of the collaborationist press. If I offended anyone, I am extremely sorry," Bruni said. "I just wanted to say how much I dislike these personal attacks, which cheapen information. And the potential danger that they represent."
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