France's first lady compares self to Jackie Kennedy

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - France's first lady, CarlaBruni-Sarkozy, said she sees herself as akin to former U.S.first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, in an interview with aU.S. magazine released on Monday.

The former supermodel-turned-pop singer said she welcomescomparisons to Onassis, who is remembered for the stylishelegance she brought to the White House in the early 1960sduring the presidency of her husband, John F. Kennedy.

"She was so young and modern, and of course unconsciously Iwould project myself more like Jackie Kennedy than, forinstance, Madame de Gaulle, who would be much more like theclassical French woman behind her husband," Bruni said in aninterview with Vanity Fair magazine.

Bruni, 40, married French President Nicolas Sarkozy inFebruary amid a flood of publicity after a whirlwindthree-month romance that started one month after Sarkozy, 53,divorced his second wife, Cecilia.

"My mistake is that I fell madly in love and did not takethe measure of how enormous this was going to be," Bruni said.

Bruni also said Sarkozy does not mind pictures of her inthe nude that were taken during her modelling days.

"I never realized how many nude pictures I did before I metNicolas," she said.

Bruni, an Italian-born naturalized French citizen, alsoopened up about her past relationships with rockers Mick Jaggerand Eric Clapton.

"It's not that I had a lot of lovers," she said. "It's thatI never hide them."

Bruni released her third album on July 11, her firstrelease as France's first lady, which shot to the top of thecharts in its first full week on sale.

The interview in the September issue of the magazine hitsnewsstands in New York and Los Angeles on July 30 and aroundthe United States on August 5.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by BobTourtellotte)