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Sarah Brown 'bemused' by website sketch

Tom Morgan,Press Association
Thursday 08 October 2009 13:39 BST
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Sarah Brown has delivered a lukewarm response to an unflattering sketch of her published on Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's new website.

The line drawing - appearing alongside a gallery of more than 20 famous faces - depicts the Prime Minister's wife with straggly hair and baggy cheeks.

Writing on her Twitter page, Mrs Brown diplomatically insisted she loved the French first lady's new website - but added "bit bemused by illustration of me".

Ms Bruni-Sarkozy's web page launched this week with depictions of a gallery of rock stars and politicians as well as the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.

With curled lips and lined faces, Barack and Michelle Obama might also be underwhelmed by their impressions. Bob Dylan, Bob Geldof, Bono and Nelson Mandela also feature in the drawings.

The majority of the pictures are thought to have been created by French artist Alice Dechelett.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has possibly the most flattering portrait, with a smaller nose and square jawline while a sketch of Ms Bruni-Sarkozy herself shows her with high cheekbones and big lips.

Other sketches on the site include Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed, Yves Saint Laurent and film director David Lynch.

Ms Bruni-Sarkozy launched her official "first lady" site to detail her daily life to fans.

The site apparently crashed within minutes of launching due to a "vast number of visitors" after its launch.

In her introduction on the site, she is described as the most talked about Carla in the world.

On her homepage, Ludovic Perrin writes: "In many places in the world, when you happen to hear the name Carla come up in conversation, there is a good chance that they are referring to Carla Bruni-Sarkozy... This exposure to the cameras in life and death situations is unavoidable for anyone who has to face history with a cool head and a smile on their lips."

The site also showcases her charity work, including her foundation to help the underprivileged in France and her work as ambassador for the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

According to reports she was impressed by Gordon Brown's wife Sarah's use of blogs and photos from her trips as first lady.

Her husband recently launched a Facebook page after studying other leaders' approaches.

Mrs Brown now has almost 900,000 followers on Twitter, more than Stephen Fry.

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