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France's "First Girlfriend", Valérie Trierweiler, has told friends "Je regrette" after tweeting against President François Hollande's former partner, mother of his four children. Trierweiler caused a national storm when she tweeted in support of Socialist grandee Ségoléne Royal's rival days before Sunday's legislative election. She was said to have acted in a fit of jealousy after Hollande sent a message of support to Royal, a former presidential candidate, who went on to lose the election. Trierweiler reportedly told a close friend: "I've made a mistake." Hollande was said to have been furious.
"She didn't think about the consequences her tweet would have on the authority of the head of state, the party, her children or François Hollande's," the friend told journalists. "The tweet had no effect on the [Royal's] final score."
The friend added Trierweiler had not expected the media storm and was "overcome … blaming herself" for giving the president a "negative image".
Hollande was said to have been furious. "He made it clear this mustn't happen again," said the friend.
Trierweiler's action prompted widespread opprobrium from government and opposition MPs. French papers described it as "Dallas at the Elysée" and the prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault suggested Trierweiler should be more discreet. It was also humiliating for Hollande: the satirical puppet show Les Guignols portrayed him as dithering impotently while the two women squabbled over him.
French papers reported the president's four children with Royal were refusing to speak to Hollande's girlfriend.
Officials, however, denied the falling out was the reason Trierweiler was absent from Mexico where world leaders met for the G20 conference.
She chose to remain in Paris because one of her two sons was taking his baccalaureate exam, they said.
Trierweiler has said she will not give up her Twitter account or her job at the magazine Paris Match.
