He told reporters there was a "strong chance" the media would only learn about the wedding after the event.

The whirlwind romance between the two has been making headlines in France and Ms Bruni's native Italy for weeks.

Mr Sarkozy, 52, and his wife Cecilia announced their divorce in October, after being married for 11 years.

His popularity has fallen by several points according to several opinion Merkel and Sarkozy Meet Under Gathering Storm Clouds ...
Cars burned in southern France ...
Sarkozy undeterred amid strikes ... polls since the New Year, a decline attributed by many to the over-exposure of his private life.

Many French people increasingly see his romance with Ms Bruni as impulsive, flashy, vulgar and, most importantly, distracting from his work as president, the BBC's Emma Jane Kirby reports from Paris.

Jagger and Clapton

Appearing before international journalists in Paris, the French leader said he and his girlfriend wished to "break with a hateful tradition of hypocrisy" by making their relationship public.

"Carla and I have decided not to lie," he said, in what the French news agency AFP reports was a clear allusion to the late President Francois Mitterrand's concealment of an illegitimate daughter for years.

Mr Sarkozy has three children, two from his first marriage to Marie-Dominique Culioli, and the third by Cecilia.

Ms Bruni, 39, has a young son from a previous relationship with philosopher Raphael Enthoven.

At various times, she was also linked to men including Mick Jagger, Donald Trump and Eric Clapton.

She has made a successful career as a singer since her modelling days.

(BBC)

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