Nicolas Sarkozy's fiancee Carla Bruni is pregnant, it was claimed yesterday.
The former supermodel has had the pregnancy confirmed by doctors in Paris, it was reported.
The couple is said to be getting married in February.
Bruni, 40, already has a six-year-old son from a previous relationship. Mr Sarkozy, 52, has two teenage sons from his first marriage, and another, ten-year-old son Louis, from his 12-year marriage to Cecilia.
The reported pregnancy was revealed on French news website 20 minutes.
Reporter Alain Jules said he received the information from a source at the American Hospital in the Paris suburb of Neuilly, where Miss Bruni went last week for a scan.
"I am told that she had a scan and the pregnancy was confirmed," he said.
"This may explain why they are planning to marry so soon after first meeting.
"They have had a whirlwind romance and have been almost inseparable ever since meeting."
The news, which has startled France, has been widely reported on radio stations and other websites across the country.
While the French do not pay as much attention as other nations to the private lives of their politicians, the president would face massive criticism if he were to remain single after fathering an illegitimate child.
Miss Bruni has already moved out of her Paris penthouse and into the presidential Elysee Palace, the French newspaper Le Figaro reported.
Another paper, Le Parisien, said Miss Bruni, who is also a pop musician, is having her own recording studio built at the Elysee.
French showbiz reporter David Leroix said: "Their relationship is going at 100mph. They are clearly besotted with each other."
Last night, the Elysee declined to deny the reported pregnancy, saying: "We do not comment on the president's private life."
Miss Bruni's family and representatives could not be contacted.
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