Dubya’s knocking along, struggling to save his Presidency. The Italian elections are locked in stalemate and the French have backed down against student protests in order to get their elections under way. Sarkozy’s having none of it – the Cecilia saga’s taken over from his conservatif agenda.

After years of watching Cherie Blair and Hilary Clinton make sucessive gaffes, in their legal-eagle ‘2 for the price of 1′ wranglings, the Italian ladies may do well to keep themselves hidden from the eyes of the 36th republic.

Should the leftists win, Flavia Franzoni, wife of former EU commissioner Romano Prodi will continue to remain as discreet and invisible as Berlusconi’s former filmstar of a wife has been during her husband’s five years in power. I’m in agreement that the

Anglo-American habit of parading the wife and children strikes as a bit naff and insulting to the woman, dangled as a prestigious, grinning appendage.

They may do well in asking Queen Rania of Jordan or America’s leading ‘Desperate Housewife’ for advice. It’s interesting to note how different the emotions projected from the East Wing are. Welcome to the world of Laura.