What are you doing after you ditch Sarkozy, babe?

First Lady of France strikes a regal pose

I was just reading in a British newspaper how the good citizens of the UK have gone ga-ga over pretty French First Lady, and Sarkozy’s former No. 1 concubine, Carla Bruni, who is now his missus. Even the old Duke of Edinburgh was so charmed by the jeune-ish fille that he ended up in hospital after her visit.

Well, there is no doubt about it. She is kind of cute in a supermodel sort of way. Indeed, throughout her grownup years she has charmed (and bedded, it is reported) a lot of mighty powerful dudes aside from shrimpish Sarkozy, such as Mick Jagger, for example. Although, in the case of Mick I think a mark of distinction for a woman might be that she has ‘not’ done the ‘horizontal tango’ with old Flabby Lips.

But, what her presence on the world stage, as it were, suggests is that we are all suckers for a Princess. Diana left the scene in a tragic way more than a decade ago and since her time there has been a vacuum in babes sufficiently charismatic to charm the world. Indeed, comparisons have already been made between Carla and Diana in the belief that there is such a vacancy of high-end pulchritude.

Before Diana Spencer there was Jackie Kennedy. Personally I always thought she was kind of creepy looking, and about as deep as a sheen of rainwater on a pavement, but she seemed to have some sort of charisma that even charmed Nikita Kruschev. Of course, looking at Mrs. Kruschev you could understand why anybody female not wearing a babushka and army boots would have caught old Nik’s fancy.

Prior to her there was Princess Margaret, the Queen’s sister. Margaret, aside from being a rather wild child, also was quite sporting in showing off her D-cup accoutrements to fine advantage in very low-cut frocks, and thus charming all sorts of men who suddenly found themselves professing staunch monarchist sentiments.

But, what is the appeal of any princess? Why is she needed? Purely and simply, I think she just brings a bit of glamour into an international theatre that is fraught with nastiness and ill-spirit. Princesses featured prominently in fairytales and mere mortals could enter flights-of-fancy in just wondering what it would be like to – well – you know.

I must confess, I fell madly and besottedly in love with the very pretty and very young Diana back in 1981 when I was living in England. To me she was all that a princess should be – one part dignity – the other part an object of healthy lust.

I suspect Carla, considering her background, offers much the same.