France's first lady defends marriage and her image

PARIS (Reuters) - France's first lady Carla Bruni hasdenied that her marriage to President Nicolas Sarkozy wasover-hasty and has leapt to the defence of her husband, whoseapproval ratings are in freefall.

In her first interview since their secret wedding earlierthis month, Bruni played down her image as a man-eatingsocialite and told L'Express magazine that she would take hernew role seriously.

Sarkozy and Bruni, an Italian supermodel-turned-singer,married just three months after first meeting and a mere fourmonths after the president wrapped up a swift, painful divorcefrom his second wife, Cecilia.

Their whirlwind romance has raised eyebrows in France, andgiven voters the impression that Sarkozy is over-impetuous, butBruni denied that they had moved too fast.

"That's false. Things between Nicolas and me weren't quick,they were immediate. Therefore, as far as we were concernedthings moved quite slowly," she was quoted as saying.

"I didn't have any hesitation. I wanted to marry himstraight away. I feel that nothing bad can happen when I amwith him," she said in a glowing eulogy of his merits.

Bruni, 40, has been linked with numerous men in the past,has a child from a previous relationship and has been portrayedin the press as a party animal and a home-breaker.

"I understand that people are worried about what I am,especially with these portraits of me that are oftenfantastical and sometimes awful. But I want to reassure theFrench. I am 40, I am normal, serious, aware, simple, even if Iam privileged."

ANTI-DIVORCE

Sarkozy, 53, has been married twice before and cynics havequestioned how long his third marriage might hold up.

Bruni herself said she was in it for the long haul.

"I've never been married before. I come from an Italianculture and wouldn't like to get divorced. I'm therefore thefirst lady until the end of my husband's mandate and his wifeuntil death," she said.

Wearing her heart on her sleeve, Bruni said her husbandmade her feel safe. "Nicolas is brave enough for two people. Heis very protective, very paternal," she said.

"I don't yet know what I can do in my role as first lady,but I know the manner in which I want to carry it out --seriously," she added.

She said her first official trip as first lady would be avisit to Britain scheduled for March 26-28, adding that itwould be "exhilarating" to meet the queen.

Her marriage to Sarkozy has helped trigger a collapse inhis ratings, with many voters accusing the president offocusing too much on his private life and not enough on theireconomic problems, such as the growing cost of living.

But Bruni said her husband was constantly at work and theymanaged to have very little time together. Even their honeymoonhad lasted just 20 minutes, she joked.

Although Bruni is used to the glare of the media, she saidthe attention she had received since she started dating Sarkozyhad staggered her, with "600 photographers" turning up to shoottheir holidays in Petra in January.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer, editing by Myra MacDonald)