Sarkozys name baby girl Giulia

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla have revealed the name of their baby daughter – Giulia.

After a day of keeping the nation guessing, the first lady announced the baby’s name on her website.

“I’m very touched by the numerous messages of congratulations that are coming in since the birth of our little girl Giulia,” Ms Bruni-Sarkozy wrote.

After being unusually coy about the pregnancy, Mr Sarkozy was ready to brag following the birth.

“We are lucky to have been blessed by a new arrival,” he said.

“All parents can understand the very profound happiness Carla and I feel, and at the same time everyone can understand that this happiness is all the more profound because it is private.”

Privacy was the guiding principle of the baby’s hush-hush birth yesterday. Police officers posted outside the maternity clinic in Paris kept journalists at bay, and it was only Mr Sarkozy’s frequent visits that tipped the news media off as to what was going on inside.

The tight control over news of the birth appears to be part of a strategy aimed at portraying Mr Sarkozy as absorbed in resolving the problems gripping France and Europe.