How man-eating model Carla Bruni went from rock 'n' roll ingenue to the fierce First Lady of France

This article is from the July/August issue of Radar Magazine. For a risk-free issue, click here.

On a dreary evening in late March at Windsor Castle, at one of those stuffy state dinners where there's never enough ice, one guest stood out among the awkwardly garbed British aristocrats, with their Dallas hairdos, unfortunate teeth, and ceremonial sashes. Clad in a tight-fitting midnight-blue chiffon gown custom-made by John Galliano, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy—supermodel, vixen, and guitar-strumming rock 'n' roll chanteuse—was making her first major appearance as the First Lady of France, a visit accorded all the pomp and circumstance of a royal wedding. A day before, Christie's auction house had nearly caused an international incident by releasing a nude photo of Bruni that she'd posed for 15 years previously. (Estimated to sell for around $4,000, the photo was snapped up by a Chinese collector for $91,000.) But as she stood serenely for photos with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, her past indiscretions seemed forgotten.

Her hair tied back in a pretty chignon, with her sexy, of-the-minute bangs swept rakishly to the side, Bruni skillfully vamped for the ravenous crew of photographers—a talent she'd mastered during her years as a model. In the end, the willowy new première dame managed to completely overshadow her husband. There was one minor faux pas when Bruni attempted to follow Sarkozy as he reviewed the royal honor guard, but the quick-thinking Queen held her back just in time. Grinning like schoolboys, Prince Charles and Prime Minister Gordon Brown all but tripped over themselves to kiss her hand. In England, the visit made headlines for days, and even the most rabid tabloids seemed taken with Bruni's charm. That Sunday, the London Times commended the "perfect little gray suit" she had worn for a daytime event (the reporter couldn't resist wondering if she'd worn panties beneath her demure ensemble). The Telegraph proclaimed her a worthy heir to Princess Diana.

it's been just six months since the husky-voiced, Italian-born Bruni seduced her way into France's Élysée Palace to become the president's most talked-about asset ... and liability. Heir to a million-dollar tire fortune, Bruni moved from Milan to France with her family in 1973 partly to avoid a spate of kidnappings. She could easily have whiled away her days as a socialite, but long before her unlikely pairing with Nicolas Sarkozy, she had built a spectacular career of her own.

At the height of her modeling days, the 5-foot, 9-inch stunner was a favorite of such top designers as Christian Lacroix and Yves Saint Laurent. But she soon became as famous for her tempestuous sex life as she was for her superior cheekbones. Her alleged dalliances with suitors like Donald Trump and Eric Clapton routinely made headlines. Her rocky romance with Mick Jagger in the 1990s, coupled with her fervent denunciations of monogamy—she much preferred, as she famously put it, "polygamy and polyandry"—established her as the nation's most unabashed libertine since the Marquis de Sade.

So it's no surprise that as soon as word of her affair with France's new (and newly divorced) president broke in December 2007, a giddy wave of Carlamania swept the land. The French went from obsessing about nationwide strikes and parliamentary battles to engaging in heated dissections of the First Lady's Dior "Babe" handbag and supposed baby bump. Bruni, of course, reveled in all the attention. She was photographed doing everything from sipping coffee at the palace of Versailles to visiting a children's village in Tunisia.

To most of the French public, "Carlita," as Sarkozy has taken to calling her, is France's answer to Jackie Kennedy, a glamorous ambassador for an increasingly insecure country. She's been likened to Norah Jones (due to the breathy vocal style she's showcased on two solo albums) and to Grace Kelly (for the obvious reasons). But there is also a sizable group of Carla critics who deride her as a ruthless and predatory striver, more aptly compared to the husband-stealing glamour-puss Angelina Jolie.