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President Sarkozy’s bumpy marriage with Cecilia, his partner of 20 years, appeared to have entered a terminal phase yesterday after the Elysee Palace failed to deny reports that the couple had legally separated.

According to Le Nouvel Observateur, a leading news weekly, both Sarkozys “went before a judge together at the end of the day on Monday, October 15, to make formal the separation procedure of the couple”. In another version, LCI, an all-news television channel, said that Mrs Sarkozy saw a judge alone on Monday morning. The judge later visited the Elysée to seek Mr Sarkozy’s counter-signature to a document, it said.

As France digested the apparent separation and possibility of divorce, legal experts questioned whether the President was entitled to alter his marital status while in office because his immunity barred him from involvement in any legal proceedings.

No officials or friends would confirm a split between Mr Sarkozy, 52, and the 49-year-old Premiere Dame, but the absence of any denials lent credence to reports over the past week that they had formally parted ways and were perhaps seeking divorce. Mrs Sarkozy, who was reunited with her husband last year after ten months spent with another man, has not appeared at an official event since July 14.

Mr Sarkozy has ordered a news blackout on what he and French traditionalists deem to be a private matter with no impact on the public interest. However some of his ministers have dropped hints about “the Cecilia problem”, as the media call the saga that has riveted France since Mrs Sarkozy vanished from the public stage in mid-July. “It is a private matter on which I can’t express myself,” Xavier Darcos, the Education Minister, said yesterday. He added: “I simply always find it painful to see that love can come apart but I don’t know anything.”

Senior insiders from the media have also been letting slip that separation is a fait accompli. L’Express news magazine reported yesterday on Mr Sarkozy’s new “solo” life as President. Christophe Barbier, its editor, wrote that “the Cecilia problem is currently being settled: any attempt to go back would be more ridiculous than happy”.

The President’s state of mind is the subject of widespread speculation because he had until recently proclaimed himself emotionally dependent on his wife.

Mrs Sarkozy has played a powerful role behind the scenes, acting for years as her husband’s gatekeeper and personnel chief when he was Interior and Finance Minister from 2002 to 2006. Several Ministers are said to owe their promotion to Mrs Sarkozy.

The Sarkozy marriage in 1996 followed a turbulent decade in which they lived together while divorcing previous spouses. Mr Sarkozy fell for Cecilia Ciganer, a former part-time model and university drop-out, when conducting her first marriage to Jacques Martin, a television celebrity. He was Mayor of Neuilly, the wealthy Paris suburb, at the time. Each had two children.

It was not clear from the media reports whether the Sarkozys might have applied for a formal legal separation or initiated divorce proceedings. Most divorces in France are now “no fault” actions by mutual consent. These require only one visit to a judge quite late in the procedure.

Legal bind

Article 67 of the Constitution The President of the Republic bears no legal responsibility for his acts carried out as President, with exceptions [these include high treason]. During his mandate the President may not be required to testify or become the object of any legal action before any jurisdiction or French administrative authority. He may not be the subject of investigation or prosecution.

Source: French Constitution

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