The Elysee Palace refused to comment on a report in a provincial newspaper that Cecilia Sarkozy had given an interview to announce the end of her marriage. L'Est Republicain, the only newspaper to be granted an interview by Cecilia Sarkozy since her husband was elected in May, said on its website that the Elysee Palace planned to confirm the rift at its weekly press conference on Friday.

The press briefing was later cancelled.

Presidential spokesman David Martenon said he would not comment on "press rumours, especially on a subject like this".

There have been renewed reports in recent weeks of deep tensions in the Sarkozy marriage. The couple have not been seen in public for weeks. The president's wife has not attended an official function for almost three months.

The couple separated for eight months in 2005, when Cecilia Sarkozy moved to New York to live with another man. She also went missing for long periods during the election campaign in the spring.

The French first lady caused a flurry of speculation in August when she failed to turn up with her husband for a picnic with US president George Bush and his family in Maine.

Last week she pulled out of a presidential trip to Sofia where the couple were to receive congratulations for their role in negotiating the release in July of the Bulgarian nurses imprisoned in Libya.