France's former first lady - Cécilia - breaks her silence

Cécilia Attias, the former first lady of France until her divorce from the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, last October, has spoken to the press for the first time in almost nine months in an interview that appeared in the Swiss daily, La Tribune de Genève last weekend.

She's not a woman who talks much to the press, but was honouring a longstanding promise she had made with Alain Jourdan, a journalist from the paper.

It could be seen as rather an odd sort of interview really. While far from being a "kiss and tell", on the surface at least it appears to be rather gentle, neither too probing nor revealing about her feelings towards her former husband.

But there are some nuances that certainly could be construed as reflecting a degree of bitterness depending on how you read them. And there's some indication that she blames Sarkozy for what happened (professionally speaking) to her current husband, Richard Attias, and the man for whom she twice left the French president.

When asked why the couple had recently moved to Dubai, where (Richard) Attias now works, rather than remain in Geneva where he had offices for more than a decade, she describes what happened with a certain degree of irony and none-too-subtley disguised finger pointing.

"All right, what has to be said has to be said," she says and explains how her husband (the couple married in March) had organised the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland for its founder, Klaus Schwab, for 13 years.

"The day of our marriage he (Schwab) gave us a wonderful present," she told the paper.

"He said he wouldn't be needing Richard's services any longer because he didn't want to create a conflict with the French government.

"My husband was very disappointed. Since then I've learned that the French president will probably attend the next Davos, even though he never has before," she added.

Of course what most will probably be hoping for is a degree of "dishing the dirt" on her former husband and in particular the reasons behind the break up of their marriage.

But once again, Attias can appear slightly evasive, admitting that being in the public eye was not exactly what she had wanted, even though it went hand-in-hand with being married to the French president.

“From the moment you marry a political figure you realised that you have to accept the negative side of media coverage," she tells the paper.

"One moment you’re one of the seven wonders of the world and the next you’re having your reputation dragged through the mud.

"It’s almost impossible to avoid such intense media coverage. You have to accept it but also be able to manage it – which is something I couldn’t do.”

While accepting that interest in her private life was inevitable especially after her divorce and subsequent remarriage, Attias also says that at times she felt like "prey hunted down by the media."

She also insists that there's no sense of acrimony to some - previously close friends - who appeared not to stand by her side when she was in the full glare of the media.

"I felt betrayed by some close friends but don’t hold any grudges," she said.

"It’s human nature. I understand that the politics and power can be very attractive and several people were tempted.

"Finally I won in terms of serenity. I have kept about 70 per cent of my friends. True friendship have stood the test of time and I left behind those who tried to take advantage of me."