The French president has been ridiculed after a picture of him with Coldstream Guards ufffd the English troop that won honours at Waterloo ufffd shows his small stature
French President Francois Hollande was ridiculed yesterday after allowing himself to look like a ‘dwarf’ alongside a British regiment which won battle honours at Waterloo and then occupied Paris. During an official visit to London on Tuesday, the French President inspected a guard of honour from the 1st Battalion of the Coldstream Guards at the Foreign Office.u00a0No tall guards for Sarkozyu00a0It was rumoured that former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was so sensitive about his height that he had banned statuesque bodyguards. Sarkozy also would also stand on tiptoes or on a box to remain shoulder to shoulder with other leaders and his wife Carla Bruni. He wore specially-designed stacked shoes to appear tall.He then appeared in hugely embarrassing photographs alongside Major James Coleby, who looked around two feet taller than the Gallic head of state.
Long and short of it: French President Francois Hollande cut a diminutive figure alongside members of the Coldstream Guards on his first official visit to London.
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Comments alongside the image on a website of pictures suggested Hollande had fallen into a ‘trap’ made to make him look ridiculous. ‘Poor France,’ wrote Jean-Marc Rameau, from Paris, while Dmitri Kovaley mocked Hollande, who is 5ft 7ins, with the words ‘Dwarfs rule the world’.u00a0There were also references to Gulliver’s Travels, while others noted how the 5ft 5ins Nicolas Sarkozy, Hollande’s predecessor, made huge efforts to disguise his small stature. These included everything from standing on tiptoe and wooden boxes, to wearing stacked heels.
Britain’s PM David Cameron towers over Hollande. Pics/Getty Images
“I find it ridiculous, not because of (Hollande’s) size, but because he falls easily into the traps that Sarkozy knew how to avoid,” wrote another poster. Sebastien Esteve of Marseille suggested that Hollande appeared ‘smaller than Nicolas Sarkozy’ alongside the guardsmen, adding the President wore a ‘badly cut’ suit. Esteve reflected the views of thousands around Europe by adding, “I am laughing”.u00a0Arguably the greatest military achievement of the Coldstreams was the part they played in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte’s army at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
No tall guards for Sarkozy
It was rumoured that former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was so sensitive about his height that he had banned statuesque bodyguards. Sarkozy also would also stand on tiptoes or on a box to remain shoulder to shoulder with other leaders and his wife Carla Bruni. He wore specially-designed stacked shoes to appear tall.
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