CARLA BRUNI-SARKOZY SEES Michelle Obama as a rival and “the only one in (Carla’s) eyes able to challenge her for the title of the world’s sexiest and most glamorous first lady”, according to a new book.

The authors of book Michael Darmon and Yves Derai claim they collaborated with Bruni-Sarkozy in writing Carla Et Les Ambitieux (Carla and The Ambitious).

In it, the authors write that Bruni-Sarkozy told them that when she asked Michelle Obama how she felt about her position as first lady, she exclaimed: “Don’t ask! It’s hell. I can’t stand it!”

Another unofficial book about France’s first lady, called Carla: A Secret Life, investigative journalist Besma Lahouri reveals intimate details about Bruni’s relationships and ambitions.

The book outlines how, on being asked about how she felt about her position as first lady, Michelle Obama exclaimed: “Don’t ask! It’s hell. I can’t stand it!”

Despite Bruni-Sarkozy’s apparent admiration of Obama, it seems the feeling is not reciprocated. The US first lady, the book says, Obama “does not appreciate the star system and is not keen to be associated with the sulphurous French first lady.”

“Nicolas (Sarkozy’s) bling-bling and Carla’s tumultuous former (love) life don’t make the Sarkozy couple very good company in the Obamas’ eyes”, according to the book.

Lahouri has said that Bruni-Sarkozy may have plans for her marriage that her husband might not like - particularly if her husband does not remain President of France in 2012. She writes how, when the editor Sylvie Delassus told her how long she had been with the same man (Laurent Joffrin, the editor-in-chief of the leftist newspaper Liberation), Bruni responded:

Twenty five years with the same man? I don’t understand how someone can stay with the same person for more than three years.

It seems Carla relishes being first lady. Lahouri writes:

Thanks to this marriage, she has not only tasted feelings of happiness, but her relationship has above all reconnected her to the celebrity that her relationship with Mick Jagger once brought. Except that this time, no shaken-up spouse will spoil the feast.

The book also claims that Bruni-Sarkozy, who is painted as a cunning and power-hungry woman, has had plastic surgery despite her claims never to have come under the knife.

Lahouri details Bruni-Sarkozy’s affairs with Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton and Louis Bertignac.