Tall agents are banned from jobs as Sarkozy bodyguards
Tall security agents have been discreetly advised not to apply for a job guarding Nicolas Sarkozy, police sources have claimed.
The French president, who is about 5ft 5in, is said to have banned tall bodyguards despite their added value of being able to spot potential attackers in a crowd.
A police source told 'Le Parisien' newspaper that "there's no point recruiting supermen" as "large-sized" candidates stood little chance of being taken on.
The presidential guard has been expanded from 50 to 80 men since 2002, when a mentally disturbed man shot at Jacques Chirac, Mr Sarkozy's predecessor, with a hunting rifle.
Napoleon
Mr Sarkozy is notoriously sensitive and secretive about his height. He is shorter than Napoleon. His wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, who is 5ft 10in, often wears flat pumps when they appear together.
Mr Sarkozy, who wears specially designed stacked shoes, has been caught standing on tiptoes at global leader events and stood on a box to remain shoulder to shoulder with Barack Obama, the US president, when they gave speeches to commemorate the Normandy landings last year.
At a visit to the Faurecia auto parts company in Normandy last September, workers claimed they had been picked to appear alongside Mr Sarkozy because they were "no bigger than the president". But the Elysee dismissed the claims as "absurd". (© Daily Telegraph, London)
- Henry Samuel in Paris
Irish Independent
