She posed for photographs with her hands crossed strategically over her middle.

But there was no getting away from it – Carla Bruni was displaying a baby bump.

The French president's wife had a difficult time disguising the obvious as she attended a launch for her illiteracy foundation in Paris.

And if the 43-year-old wanted to be discrete, it didn't help that her father-in-law confirmed her pregnancy that same day.

Pal Sarkozy, 82, told a German newspaper: "I'm glad to be having a grandchild."

The pensioner added that the couple don't "want to know the sex of the child, but I'm sure it's a girl who'll be as beautiful as Carla".

In pictures: How Carla fell for a president

Photos: © PA