New York Post
French President Nicolas Sarkozy won’t be spending New Year’s Eve in France. He won’t even be in Europe. The stealthy head of state was spotted “jetting out last night to Morocco to spend New Year’s with wife Carla Bruni and King Mohammed VI at the new royal palace in Marrakech.” Sarkozy, Bruni, and their new French baby are guests “the king and his wife, Princess Lalla Salma” along with other friends and family members who are royal personages. Everyone’s staying in “the new palace” which King Mohammed IV built just after taking the throne in 1999 and is quite proud of. According to a witness on the ground, the mere fact the king and his whole family (and the Sarkozys) are inside has led to widespread hoisting of “The Royal Standard of the King, the red flag with the green star in the center,” which as of this morning is apparently “flying all over Marrakech, a sign the king and his family are in the new palace.” And, again, the Sarkozys
Moroccan Eve
Last Updated: 3:52 AM, December 31, 2011
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was jetting out last night to Morocco to spend New Year’s with wife Carla Bruni and King Mohammed VI at the new royal palace in Marrakech. The king and his wife, Princess Lalla Salma, are hosting friends and family, including the Sarkozys and the king’s brother Prince Moulay Rachid. A source told us: “The Royal Standard of the King, the red flag with the green star in the center, is flying all over Marrakech, a sign the king and his family are in the new palace. Lots of people have arrived for New Year’s Eve. The king built the new palace soon after he was crowned in 1999. Carla Bruni and her baby daughter have been staying, and Sarkozy was expected to arrive from Paris last night.” Sarkozy and Mohammed VI are close trade partners and have been working together on building a high-speed rail line linking Tangiers with Casablanca. Another guest of the king is French actress Etchika Choureau Rheims, a close friend of the royal family who reportedly was once about to marry then-Crown Prince Hassan II — but their romance ended when he was proclaimed king of Morocco in 1961. A source told us, “Even though they didn’t marry . . . she is well loved, and she is treated like royalty all over Morocco.”
