Photographs: Reuters
Shorn of her status as the first lady, Valerie Trierweiler, former companion of French President Francois Hollande, made her first public appearance in Mumbai on Monday, saying she is feeling "very good" but fobbed off questions about her private life.
Trierweiler, who went ahead with her India visit despite the weekend announcement of the separation by Hollande, said she was happy to be here for a "cause close to her heart".
"I am happy to be here. Don't be worried about me. I have time....years to live," Trierweiler, 48, a career journalist and Hollande's partner of eight years, told a media conference organised for the launch of charity Fight Hunger Foundation.
"I don't know if it's for me to judge, or for you. I was there for 19 months," she said in her brief public comment since the scandal broke out earlier this month following revelations of Hollande's affair with actress Julie Gayet, 41.
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PHOTOS: Valerie Trierweiler in Mumbai after split with French president
Photographs: Reuters
"These last few days have been difficult. But today, she is serene," Patrice Biancone, Trierweiler's chief of staff, told The Associated Press aboard the flight.
On Monday, Trierweiler, who is on a charity mission in Mumbai, visited the nutrition rehabilitation and research centre of the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General hospital.
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PHOTOS: Valerie Trierweiler in Mumbai after split with French president
Photographs: Reuters
She interacted with the patients and their parents to understand their needs and problems of malnutrition and is scheduled to attend a gala dinner on Monday night.
Trierweiler's status as first lady will officially be removed on Wednesday.
Hollande and Trierweiler were together since 2007 when he ended his more than two-decade-long relationship with former presidential candidate Segolene Royal, the mother of his four children.
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