Carla Bruni, France's first lady, has given birth to a baby girl at the La Muette private clinic in Paris. Although the presidential couple are yet to comment, the girl is rumoured to be named 'Dahlia', according to the UK's Independent newspaper.
The baby, who has been expected for a fortnight, was born around 7.30pm on Wednesday evening (19th September 2011) - President Nicolas Sarkozy immediately flew back from Germany where he was in urgent talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel about saving the euro. He had visited his 43-year-old wife for around half-an-hour earlier this week, but was forced to leave for the crisis talks. The child, the first to be born to a serving French president, is the second for Bruni - she has a son from an earlier relationship. Sarkozy is already a parent to three boys from his two previous marriages. According Afp, the first lady had not known the baby's sex and during a pre-recorded interview for French television, due to air on Thursday (20th October 2011), she said, "We've arranged for it to be a big surprise. Obviously, a nice surprise". News of Bruni's pregnancy was kept safely under wraps for several months, but the couple were forced to confirm the news after intense media speculation.
A singer-songwriter, actress and former model, Bruni made a recent cameo appearance in Woody Allen's Parisian romantic-comedy 'Midnight in Paris'.