Carla charms UK’s most powerful women

Before slipping into an off-the-shoulder number for Thursday night's dinner at Guildhall (pictured above), which brought the Sarkozys' 36-hour state visit to a close, France's First Lady, Carla Bruni, was the star turn at a women-only charity lunch organised by Sarah Brown, the Prime Minister’s wife, at Lancaster House.

Singer Annie Lennox, actress Diana Quick, novelist Kathy Lette and broadcaster Kirsty Wark were among those who attended the event to raise awareness of women who die in childbirth in the developing world. At the end of a stirring speech, Sarah Brown thanked the guests for coming, adding "...and not just because of our interest in Carla and her new role".

Then Bruni - dressed in a purple Dior coat - took the podium, her husky, heavily accented voice apparently prompting one guest to whisper: "Give that woman a chatline". She told the audience: "This is a fundamental cause," but that she was also there because "I like women" - particularly Sarah Brown, of whom she said: "She is kind and calm." Brown is reportedly already refering to Bruni as "my new best friend".

Of her shotgun introduction to the world of international diplomacy, Bruni said: "It's all been a bit of a surprise. There I was, last year, on October 13, strumming my guitar" - she mimed the strumming - "and then I met Nicolas. And now I've met the Queen!"

The French President himself paid Carla an emotional tribute at a press conference following the Anglo-French summit meeting at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in north London. When a French journalist suggested that his new wife had overshadowed him during his state visit to the UK, Sarkozy countered:. "So much has been said and so much has been written that I am proud that people have seen her for what she really is, and that there is a sense of justice."

He added: "I think she has been an honour to our country, not simply because of the way she looks, but beyond that everyone understands that this is a woman who has belief, sensitivity and humanity."