When François Hollande invited his Right-wing predecessor to share his French presidential jetliner to fly to Nelson Mandela’s funeral, it was hailed as a gesture of reconciliation in keeping with the late South African leader, reports The Daily Telegraph.
But that spirit of forgiveness apparently failed to stop Mr Sarkozy snubbing the current Socialist president, leading to the two men flying in separate Falcon jets on the 13-hour flight at considerable expense to the French tax payer.
George W Bush and Barack Obama might be flying to Johannesburg together in Air Force One but diplomatic sources cited in the French press suggested that Mr Sarkozy had balked at the prospect of Mr Hollande enjoying all the trimmings of the “flying palace” he had lavishly upholstered in his place and which was previously dubbed "Air Sarko One".
While Mr Hollande would have spent a comfortable night in the plane’s private apartments, complete with shower and double bed, Mr Sarkozy would have had to make do slumming it with lesser dignitaries on a business class seat.
“The ultimate humiliation,” guffawed one unnamed diplomat cited by Le Parisien.
There had been no love lost between Mr Sarkozy and the man who beat him in last year’s presidential elections since Mr Hollande coldly dumped his conservative rival on the steps of the Elysée Palace on inauguration day without accompanying him to his car – the usual custom.
Read more of this report from The Daily Telegraph.