Most state visits are dry, boring affairs that generate little public interest. Fashion experts and gossip columnists stay away.Nicolas Sarkozy will try to “re-presidentialize his image” while in the UK, an analyst says. Not so when the cast of characters includes Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, a glamorous Italian fashion model and pop singer who is now first lady of France, and Queen Elizabeth II, who will throw a lavish banquet at Windsor Castle after taking her guests on a carriage ride through the streets of Windsor. Oh, and the president of France will be there, too. Nicolas Sarkozy, in trouble at home, desperately wants to leave the gossip behind and appear serious and presidential. He is banking on the two-day summit that starts in London Wednesday as a first step toward reviving his sagging popularity at home.
The beleaguered president, derided by some as “President Bling Bling,” will address Parliament, lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, and dine with political and business leaders.
