The 40-year-old top model turned pop singer was infuriated when the Italian prime minister paid "tribute" to America's first black president on Thursday, saying he was "handsome, young and also suntanned".

The Italian-born Ms Bruni, who became a French national following her marriage to President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier this year, said: "When I hear Silvio Berlusconi making light of the event (Obama's election) and joking about the fact that Obama is "always tanned", it feels strange to me.