Trierweiler admits tweet 'a mistake'

PRESIDENT Hollande's partner, Valérie Trierweiler, has admitted that her tweeted message calling on voters to back Ségolène Royal's opponent in the June parliamentary elections "was a mistake".

In an interview in today's Ouest France she said that she regretted the attack on Ms Royal, the president's former partner and mother of their four children.

She said: "It was a mistake that I regret. I was clumsy and it was misinterpreted. I had not realised that I was no longer just a simple citizen. It will not happen again."

In the interview she revealed another effect of her new status: she has had to give up on plans to film documentaries for the Canal+ TV company D8.

"After thinking about it," she said "I have decided to drop it.

"I have worked with D8 for seven years and we had thought about one or two documentaries on big issues such as the schooling of young girls in the world or demographic problems.

"It would have been a wonderful humanitarian project but I understand that, for some, being the president's partner and working in television could cause questions and problems."

However, she said that she would continue her career as a journalist on Paris Match where she has worked for 22 years.

She had previously worked with Direct 8 on political programmes but said her writing has "nothing to do with politics".
She said: "I have the care of my children and I do not see how I can do that without an income.

"France has a record for the number of working women: 85%. I am one of them, simply that. Keeping my financial independence also seems equally good for keeping my feet on the ground."
Photo: Jackolan1