Hollande's image takes a new knock with book of ex

Valerie Trierweiler, former companion of French President Francois Hollande, attends the traditional Bastille day military parade on the Champs Elysee in Paris in this July 14, 2013 file picture. [Photo/Agencies]

Hollande's Elysee Palace has refused to comment on the book. But, in an unexpected turn, it was Segolene Royal, the mother of Hollande's four children and the woman he left for Trierweiler, who sprang to his defence.

"This is the opposite of what he stands for," Royal, herself a former presidential candidate who is now his energy minister, told RMC radio, calling the accusation "total nonsense".

RTL radio commentator Alba Ventura said that, true or not, Trierweiler's attacks risked being "devastating" for what was left of Hollande's public credibility.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the resurgent far-right National Front, accused Hollande and his former partner of sullying the authority of the role of president in the eyes of the public.

Trierweiler lived with Hollande at the Elysee presidential palace for a year and a half until a gossip magazine exposed his secret relationship with actress Julie Gayet, 42, in January.

In her book, titled "Thank You For This Moment", Trierweiler speaks of Hollande's coldness and mean-spirited stabs, and also says he attempted for months after the breakup to win her back, sending as many as 29 text messages in a day.

Hollande has shunned calls from some in his own party who believe his deficit-reduction strategy is being conducted at the expense of the economy and the needy, recently reshuffling his government to oust more hardline left-wingers.

His prime minister, Manual Valls, has called a confidence vote in parliament for September 16, where the scale of dissent within the ruling party - for now confined to a minority group of hardline leftists - may become clearer.