Mr.Allen said in recent interviews with European newspapers that he planned to shoot a film in Paris next year and had offered Ms.Bruni-Sarkozy a chance to play a role.

Last week France's leading society magazine described Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy, 41, as the new Marie-Antoinette.

This is a trivial matter. That’s a longwinded answer to your question: I was not prepared for the amount of press that was attached to the picture because of Madame Sarkozy.