Bruni,Sarkozy

London, Aug. 24: Speculation that Carla Bruni-Sarkozy could be pregnant has intensified after pictures showed her husband caressing her tummy on a French beach.

Wearing a pair of unflattering yellow swimming shorts and a smug grin, the French President was photographed on holiday at his family villa in Cap Negra on the French Riviera.

In the picture his wife looks lovingly down on her diminutive husband, her hand resting on his shoulder.

The couple married in February following a whirlwind romance and despite expressing a fondness for multiple lovers, the 40-year-old singer has said she hopes to start a family soon.

In an interview with US magazine Vanity Fair last month, she disclosed that she and President Nicolas Sarkozy are trying for a baby.

Bruni-Sarkozy already has a seven-year-old son, Aurelien, from a previous relationship.

“I’d love to have children with Nicolas. I hope to, if I am young enough. It would be a dream,” she said, but ruled out fertility treatment: “If it comes, I’d be the happiest person in the world, but if it doesn’t come, I’m not going to tempt the Devil. If life doesn’t give me another child, well, it has given me so much already.”