Vatican Nixed Carla Bruni Visit

Pope 'feared press would print racy photos'
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 15, 2010 2:10 AM CDT
Vatican Nixed Carla Bruni Visit
Pope Benedict XVI shakes hands with French President Nicolas Sarkozy during a private audience at the Vatican.   (AP Photo/Alberto Pizzoli, Pool)

The Vatican had a request for Nicolas Sarkozy ahead of the French president's meeting with Pope Benedict XVI last week: Leave your wife at home. Sources say that the pontiff feared that the Italian press would pair his photo with pictures of a scantily-clad or nude Carla Bruni from her modeling days, the Telegraph reports. French officials declined to comment on why the first lady stayed in Paris while her husband traveled to the Vatican.
(More Vatican stories.)

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