Confessions

Being First Lady Is 'Hell'

Says Michelle Obama, claims Carla Bruni.

Being first lady isn’t all that pleasant for Michelle Obama, according to French First Lady Carla Bruni, who says she asked Obama about the role and got the reply, “Don’t ask! It’s hell. I can’t stand it!” The confessional conversation took place last March, during an official visit from French President Nicolas Sarkozy, according to the book Carla and the Ambitious by Michael Darmon and Yves Derai, which was written with Bruni. The French first couple have been awed by the fortune amassed by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair since he left office in 2007, and Bruni thinks Sarkozy should follow suit: “Why not start making money?” Bruni reveals she’s not one for modesty, saying she’s not like other first ladies, having taken on the taxing jobs of model and singer. “I am a femme fatale, my dear,” she says.