France's new first lady at 16: President's partner shows off the natural elegance that captivated her man

PUBLISHED: 19:17 EST, 20 May 2012 | UPDATED: 08:02 EST, 21 May 2012

Smiling wistfully into the camera this is France’s first lady, Valerie Trierweiler, as a carefree teenager.

Taken on the beach when she was just 16 years old, the picture reveals the natural elegance that has captivated new French President Francois Hollande.

Dressed in only a swimming costume with a silver chain around her neck and a hand in her chestnut brown hair, Miss Trierweiler was renowned for her good looks and her ambition even as a school-girl.

Fresh-faced beauty: Valerie as a carefree teenager, now one of the world's most prominent women

High office: Valerie, centre, was taken on a tour of the White House by Michelle Obama with other G8 leaders' spouses at the weekend

Old friends remember her as a girl used to turning heads but disinterested in the attention her looks brought her.

Instead she relished being independent and was one of only a few girls at school to own a moped which she enjoyed using to get around.

Miss Trierweiler appeared to have set her sights firmly on rising from her humble origins and putting her difficult childhood behind her.

Raised in the town of Angers in the Loire Valley, she was brought up in a council house.

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Her father, a clerk, had lost a leg after standing on a Second World War landmine in 1944 when he was 12.

His disability combined with being one of six children meant Miss Trierweiler’s childhood was not easy and she appears to have adopted a steely manner which has been criticised.

However old school friends yesterday defended the twice-divorced mother-of-three who is the First Lady in the Elysee Palace to be unmarried and have a job - she is a political journalist for Paris Match.

An old classmate from Joachim du Bellay High School recalled: ‘She was always very attractive and very pleasant with it.

‘She had a lot of ambition. She knew where she wanted to go in life. She was one of the few girls at school to own a moped!

‘Life was not easy at home, being one of six children but she never complained. She does not have a bad part to her character, she just has a lot of character!

‘She has been described as cold but that is not the case she is simply reserved, protective. You could tell she had a promising future,’ said Florence Pellé, Valerie’s best friend at school.

Stealing the show: Valerie Trierweiler with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's wife Hitomi and Michelle Obama

Dab hand: Valerie Trierweiler waters plants in a garden during a NATO leaders' spouses event

‘And she turned all of the boys’ heads as well! But she wasn’t really interested in the good-looking boys. She was looking for something else, someone more intellectual, deep.

‘She always had a lot of charm. And notoriety has not changed her, she has remained the same, straight-forward.’

Old friend Loick Berrou added: ‘Valerie was fresh and full of life. Her beauty and charm shone through.’

Another old friend added: ‘She loved being outside. She would ride her bike, swim in the river and help out at a local farm.

‘And she also did synchronised swimming!’

Residents in Angers are proud of Miss Trierweiler’s elevation to the Elyse Palace.

Her face is displayed on the front cover of many of France’s magazines and proudly displayed in news agents across the town.

In bloom: U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and Valerie Trierweiler tour the gardens of the Gary Comer Youth Center in Chicago

Look and learn: Curator Bill Allman provides a tour for G-8 summit leaders' spouses at the White House

Her uncle Florent Massonneau said yesterday: ‘I am proud that that Valerie has become the first lady.

‘As a young woman she had it all – beauty and intelligence.’

He added: ‘Valerie did not have an easy childhood. Her father loved her very much but he was disabled. He lost a leg in the war.

‘And he died young, too young. She was not even 21.’

Monsieur Massonneau lives around the corner from the council house that was Miss Trierweiler’s childhood home, in the working class district of Monplaisir.

Her mother Jeanne still lives there.

Madame Massonneau, who worked as a cashier at the local ice-rink to make ends meet after her husband died, continues to play an important role in her daughter’s life.

A neighbour told the Daily Mail: ‘I saw Valerie on the television. It surprised me. She has changed her name but that was the little girl who used to live here.

‘And Madame Massonneau has been to Paris a lot lately. She is there now, looking after the children I think.’

Miss Trierweiler has three sons, aged 15, 17 and 19 from her marriage to her second husband Denis Trierweiler, a sub-editor at glossy French magazine Paris Match.

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This woman is absolutely NO lady!

- honest person , Hastings, 22/5/2012 04:03

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Are you sure that's a picture of her and not her mother? No disrespect but she's only 47 surely she would have dressed in 1970ish attire. - Theresa Michelle, USA I agree, this photograph is supposed to have been taken around 1981? Doesn't look that way. Did they not have colour instamatics in France back then? Why would a 16 year schoolgirl pose for a shot in black and white and wearing a distinctly 1950's hairdo in 1981? Was she a model then? Otherwise I have to say this photo seems odd.

- miko , singapore, 22/5/2012 04:02

Click to rate Rating 2

What a beauty

- Keith Buckley , NZ, 21/5/2012 23:24

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Stop calling her the first lady of France. She is his Girlfriend, it is not like they have been together a very long time that they would be common law husband and wife

- AMY P , Stafford, VA , 21/5/2012 22:22

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I had to laugh at the mention that she grew up in a 'council house'. It's important to understand that 'HLM' - the French equivalent to council housing in the 60s and 70s for many was actually a more modern and desirable housing solution. My grand parents for instance were delighted to have made it to the waiting list in the late 60s for their 'council apartment' - back then it had central heating, bathrooms, etc amenities that were still inconsistent in the rest of the French housing market.... so let's not 'there there' the lady beyond what is due ;)

- Celine , Sedan, France, 21/5/2012 19:46

Click to rate Rating 24

Scott, please send us a picture of yourself so we can see what YOU look like. I'm sure you're no Brad Pitt. - MST, Philly USA, 21/5/2012 16:40 ___________ Nope. I am not a Brad Pitt, but I am not fat, bald, or inactive. I am slender and very healthy and rarely drink, do martial arts four night a week, and single and loving it. I won't lower my standards. I have also gotten snide remarks from women in my area about being healthy and slender because it just wasn't attractive but then they were no prizes either and I could do much better. A female friend told me that this is common thinking about women where we live because they have no confidence in themselves to have a man that is nice looking and takes care of himself. She told me many women would rather have a fatty because it's less of a hassle. When I vacation in Europe (particularly France) it's nice meeting a women who has brains and can think and converse without acting like a brat.

- Scott , Michigan, USA, 21/5/2012 19:13

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I don't think calling her the First Lady of France is right. Maybe the First Girl Friend, or the First Significant Other, or maybe even the First Mistress. She's not married to President Hollande and shouldn't be given the same recognition as a wife. This sounds picky, I'm sure, but what if he decides to drop her and date, say, Betty. Then Betty is the First Lady? Then she drops him so he now dates Nicole, and she is now the First Lady? If he doesn't have a wife, then he should represent France as a single man, or bring a family member, someone who will remain a constant. Just my opinion, of course.

- pat , eugene, 21/5/2012 19:13

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Sorry DM she's not our first lady. She's the president's girlfriend. Very different status.

- NY, USA , French expat, 21/5/2012 19:03

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Scott, please send us a picture of yourself so we can see what YOU look like. I'm sure you're no Brad Pitt.

- MST , Philly USA, 21/5/2012 16:40

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I cant believe th DM, this woman is very average, you would not notice her if she was on a supermarket check out, so why are you saying she is a raving beauty.Are you trying to "do a Pippa" ? I agree, she's average We always hear about how elegant French women are, but I've been to France and while there are some that are, there are many others that are plain or even unattractive. And French women DO get fat!

- MST , Philly USA, 21/5/2012 16:38

Click to rate Rating 7

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