Pomp greets Sarkozy and wife on state visit

By Paul Majendie

WINDSOR (Reuters) - A beaming French President Nicolas Sarkozy, flanked by his model wife Carla Bruni, was greeted with pomp by Queen Elizabeth on Wednesday for the first French state visit in more than a decade.

Thousands of people gathered on the streets of Windsor to welcome France's glamorous first couple, whose visit comes weeks after they married following a high-profile, whirlwind romance.

Many well-wishers said they had come to see not only the Queen but also Bruni, a former fashion model born in Italy who has also enjoyed a successful career as a singer and songwriter.

Dressed in a demure grey coat and wearing a small, stylish hat, Bruni smiled politely and curtsied as she shook hands with the Queen and then chatted animatedly with the monarch's 86-year-old husband, Prince Philip.

As a band played and flags were waved, the French couple and the Queen and Prince Philip were taken into the grounds of Windsor Castle in horse-drawn carriages, where they inspected a parade of marching royal guardsmen.

The couple will spend the night at the castle, just outside of London.

The visit comes at a crucial time for Sarkozy, who is battling accusations at home that he is a "bling bling" president more concerned with a flashy lifestyle than getting a grip on the French economy and other weighty issues.

Some newspapers had greeted the arrival of France's head of state by publishing pictures of his wife posing naked for a fashion shoot more than 15 years ago.