The French first lady sure has had her fair share of scandal and controversy - and it's barely been two months since she married the twice-divorced French president Nicolas Sarkozy. However, the former Italian model - now turned successful singer - seems to have absolutely no intention of denying her past - which, it has emerged, also includes a fair share of glamor modeling. Consequently, when news came that a nude photo of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy will be auctioned off on April 10th in New York City, the only official comment from the French camp was that the photo concerned Mrs. Sarkozy's private life, and was therefore not a topic open for discussion.

The nude black and white photo in question was taken almost 15 years ago - in 1993 to be more precise - by photographer Michel Comte, and features Bruni naked, covering her crotch with both hands. It was taken in the day and age when Bruni was one of the world's most famous models, and is expected to sell for between $3,000 and $4,000, at an auction for Christie's auction house that will take place at the Rockefeller Center in New York. Strange as it may sound, the French once again lead the race for "the planet's most eccentric democracy" and they do so with ease and grace. In what other country would a first lady's nude photo (in which she looks smoking hot, by the way) be auctioned off for a spicy price and without any trace of a scandal? That probably is a question for the ages.

But then again, it's not like the French president's relationship to his current, former supermodel-turned-singer wife has been a very conventional one. They married this February after a whirlwind romance, barely a few months after Sarkozy had divorced his second wife Cécilia. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is set to make her first state visit as the French first lady today, when she will accompany her husband on a two-day trip to the United Kingdom, where the two newlyweds are set to attend a banquet held by Queen Elizabeth II. And just in case you were wondering exactly how Carla Bruni might be feeling about her naked photo being sold at auction, check out French GQ's April issue and you may be in for a bit of a surprise.