As Carla Bruni-Sarkozy welcomed her fellow first ladies to the French resort town of Deauville, where their spouses are attending a summit of G8 leaders, there was no hiding an apparent "baby bump" beneath her loose fitting smock dress.
Dressed in an unbelted, loose-fitting white dress and black overcoat, the 43-year-old wife of French President Nikolas Sarkozy briefly posed for pictures Thursday. As she stood alongside the other spouses including Prime Minister Stephen Harper's wife Laureen, her dress could be seen stretching over a noticeably rounded midriff.
Reporting from Deauville, CTV's Daniele Hamamdjian said Bruni-Sarkozy's appearance flew in the face of her recent habit of covering her midsection with very baggy clothes and oversized handbags.
"When she touched her belly and rubbed her belly the entire French delegation of reporters gasped at the press centre," Hamamdjian told Â鶹´«Ã½ Channel. "It's the first time she ever did that."
The appearance of a so-called baby bump adds fuel to the persistent pregnancy rumours that have been swirling since a gossip magazine reported that she was three months along in late April.
Neither she, nor her husband have commented on the swirl of reports, suggesting instead that any news they are expecting their first child together is a private matter.
The president's father was nevertheless quoted in a German newspaper last week, saying he had a granddaughter on the way.
A more recent report suggested the couple should consider painting the nursery blue, however, as family friend Jacques Seguela told a British newspaper the pair were in fact expecting a boy.
Regardless of its gender, if a baby is on the way, many believe the prospect of an expanding family might endear Sarkozy to voters and boost his dismal popularity ratings ahead of presidential elections next year.
No word on what motherhood might mean for Bruni-Sarkozy's career, though. Besides her role as the French first lady, the Italian-born former model is a successful singer-songwriter and sometime TV personality.
While she has a 10-year-old son from a previous marriage, her husband has three sons from two previous marriages.
