Carla Bruni keeps mum - but bump says rumour true

FRENCH first lady Carla Bruni showed off a bump yesterday that left little room for doubt that reports she is pregnant are true.

Posing for photographs with the wives of other leaders on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Deauville, she wore a loose-fitting white smock dress which at times stretched over her rounded midriff.

The former model has not said anything to confirm rumours that she is expecting, but she has made no great effort to dispel them.

She has fended off direct questions with coy giggles and has taken to concealing a noticeably heavy midriff under baggy clothing.

On Wednesday, members of a British charity delivered a maternity basket to 43-year-old Bruni containing a childbirth kit and hygiene supplies, as a way of publicising the issue of child mortality in the developing world.

Her husband, President Nicolas Sarkozy, has refused to comment on the reports the couple are expecting their first child together, but last week a German newspaper quoted his father as saying the rumours were true.

A presidential baby could be a public relations boon for Mr Sarkozy, who is grappling with some of the lowest popularity ratings of any French leader in decades and faces a tough battle to hold on to his position in elections next April.

Italian-born Bruni, who has a career as a pop singer, has a nine-year-old son from a former relationship and has often said she would like to have a child with Mr Sarkozy.

It would be Mr Sarkozy's fourth child after the three sons he has from two previous marriages.

During the two-day G8 summit, leaders' spouses will attend events for literacy and anti-Aids groups, causes supported by Bruni.