French President Nicolas Sarkozy has married his girlfriend, the singer Carla Bruni, at a ceremony in the Elysee Palace in Paris.

Ms Bruni's relationship with Mr Sarkozy began shortly after the president divorced his second wife, Cecilia, in October 2007.

It is believed that Mr Sarkozy met Ms Bruni at a dinner party in Paris. By mid-December, French media was abuzz with rumours that they might be about to tie the knot.

The affair was officially confirmed when the pair spent holidays in the Middle East with a bevy of journalists and photographers in tow.

Ms Bruni was among the world's most highly paid models and is used to the limelight. Her mother was a concert pianist and her father a composer and heir to the CEAT tyre fortune.

The pair's rapid courtship has coincided with a downturn in Mr Sarkozy's popularity ratings, with critics accusing the president of putting his private life on public display.

The couple (centre) strolled in the park at Versailles near Paris the day after their wedding. Italian businessman Maurizio Remmert and his wife accompanied them.