A photo surfaced Friday showing French President François Hollande with the three women in his life — his girlfriend, his future lover and his old flame.
It was taken during his successful 2012 presidential campaign, when he presented himself to voters as a devoted companion to journalist Valérie Trierweiler.
He is seen seated next to Ségolène Royal, the mother of his four children, while shaking hands with Trierweiler — as actress Julie Gayet looks on from two rows behind.
The never-married Hollande left Royal, now 60, in 2005 after 30 years, moved in with Trierweiler and made her first lady of France when he was elected.
After his affair with Gayet, 41, was revealed last week, Hollande, 59, said he was “going through difficult moments” and would choose between her and Trierweiler over the next month.
The photo emerged as Hollande’s office disclosed he had visited Trierweiler, 48, for the first time since the shock of the scandal sent her to a hospital with “extreme nervous fatigue.”
Hollande’s spokesman gave no details of the president’s Thursday-night visit. But Trierweiler told French radio statio RTL that her doctors had barred him from seeing her and that he sent her chocolates and flowers instead.
Hollande, for his part, was “not unhappy” to learn he had been banned, the BBC reported.
Meanwhile, new details about Gayet emerged in Closer, the magazine that exposed the affair.
It said the affair may have begun in 2011, not last year, as previously reported. After being introduced to her, Hollande was instantly attracted and “relations quickly became more intimate.”
Hollande and Gayet had three love nests, not just the one near the Elysée Palace where he was photographed sneaking off to, Closer said.
But they broke up for about three months last May after Trierweiler confronted Hollande about rumors he was seeing the actress. They broke up again briefly in September.
The condition of Trierweiler, who was supposed to be released from the hospital Friday, remains a mystery.
Her employer, Paris Match magazine, said Trierweiler’s family was “worried” because on Friday her 16-year-old son “was not able to visit his mother.” Trierweiler also hasn’t answered her phone in two days, the mag said.
“She is still very tired to the extent that she cannot stand up,” said the RTL reporter who spoke to her. “Her blood pressure and morale are low, but she hopes to leave with her head held high and is prepared to fight, at least for her dignity.”