French President Hollande and girlfriend Trierweiler 'c'est fini'

PARIS, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- French President Francois Hollande Saturday said he has officially split with his longtime girlfriend and France's de facto first lady Valerie Trierweiler.

The president's office issued statement to the state-backed news agency AFP, announcing the separation two weeks after the French magazine Closer published photos of Hollande in the company of actress Julie Gayet.

Trierweiler, who was hospitalized briefly after the magazine's Jan. 10 report, is in India this weekend on an official trip to promote the French relief organization Action Against Hunger, TheLocal.fr reported.

It had been expected Hollande would confirm the couple were separating over his alleged infidelities with the 41-year-old Gayet, who is suing Closer for invasion of privacy. He and Trierweiler were together for eight years.

The newspaper Le Parisien ran a headline early Saturday that said: "Francois Hollande et Valerie Trierweiler c'est fini."

Hollande is expected to make his official visit to the United States next month alone.