French president Sarkozy marries former supermodel Carla Bruni

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, 53, married his girlfriend of only three months, former supermodel Carla Bruni, 40, at the Elysee Palace today. The Elysee is the official residence of the President.

The pair tied the knot at a low-key, civil ceremony conducted by the mayor of the Paris district that houses the president's grandiose official residence.

"I married two voters who live at 55 Rue du Faubourg St Honore," Mayor Francois Lebel told Europe 1 radio, giving the official address of the Elysee. The bride was wearing white and was ravishing, as usual," he said, adding: "The bridegroom wasn't bad either."

Another official told Reuters the wedding took place at 11 a.m. (5 a.m. EST) and Italian news agency ANSA quoted Bruni's mother, Marisa Borini, as confirming the event. Sarkozy and Bruni indicated last month that they planned to marry after a whirlwind romance and made clear that it would be a private affair, far from the eyes of the press.

[From Yahoo! News]

The wedding was short, lasting only about 20 minutes. There were only 20 people there, mostly family and very close friends. The last head of state to marry in office was Napoleon III. Sarkozy has only been divorced from his second wife for a few months after they separated last October. Reports were that he took the divorce very hard. His colleagues said he was deeply upset by the divorce. He and Bruni started dating in November.

The two have garnered a lot of press - and a lot of criticism - over the course of their short relationship. Anytime a political figure dates a model or actor, a lot of people are going to talk. But the popular opinion was that Sarkozy was spending far too much time focusing on his relationship with Bruni when he should have been spending more of it on the nation’s business. It’s thought their marriage may actually make things easier for Sarkozy, since Bruni is now the first lady and will join him on official trips.

Last year Bruni told Figaro Madame magazine "I'm monogamous from time to time, but I prefer polygamy and polyandry.” Apparently that preference doesn’t hold when you’ve got the chance to marry the President of France.

Picture Note by JayBird: French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his model-turned-singer girlfriend, Carla Bruni, in Luxor, Egypt. Images thanks to Splash.