A novel take on affairs of state
A CENTRE- RIGHT politician with a sense of style, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing found time for affairs of the heart as well as affairs of state.
The Princess of Wales’s beauty bewitched him, though rumours of a dalliance seem unlikely, but a reported fling with soft- porn star Sylvia Kristel, had more credence.
Shortly after becoming president in 1974, he crashed a friend’s Ferrari in Paris after a late night rendezvous with a young woman.
His affection for nubile females knew no bounds and following an evening with Princess Diana at a glitzy charity event at the Palace of Versailles, he wrote an open love letter to her in a magazine, stating: “When she spoke she lifted her eyes towards me, those immense blue eyes. That’s when I discovered she was a cat, a feline.”
D’Estaing also penned a steamy romantic book about a fictional French president’s affair with a British princess in 2009. The book flopped and he coyly admitted most of the story was made up. Between 1974 and 1981 he oversaw many liberal reforms, legalising abortion and relaxing harsh divorce laws. He also cut the voting age from 21 to 18.
He founded the influential G6 group, which included Harold Wilson and US President Gerald Ford at its inaugural meeting.
Valery Marie René Georges Giscard d’Estaing was born in Germany where his army father Jean was stationed. He said he had fought with the Resistance in 1944.
After becoming finance minister he knew if he was to reach the
Élysée he would have to distance himself from Charles de Gaulle.
He seized his chance following the death of Georges Pompidou but he made the mistake of making Jacques Chirac his prime minister as they were to have many clashes.
D’Estaing had four children with his wife Anne- Aymone.