"It is no longer a rumour, just the truth. For the past six months, Francois Hollande has been meeting the actress, Julie Gayet, in her second home, nestled in a street adjacent to the Elysee." So began the seven-page exclusive published by the notorious French tabloid Closer last Friday (10 January).

The article, the online version of which has since been removed by Closer, details the alleged visits of the French President to the apartment of Ms Gayet over the course of the evening of 30 December 2013.

A sequence of accompanying photographs, dated and timed, show the arrival of Ms Gayet and two other men, one said to be the President and the other his bodyguard, within the space of an hour. The accompanying text outlines the logistics of the alleged affair and reveals the history between the actress and the President, including previous rumours, denials and consequent tensions between President Hollande and his official partner Valerie Trierweiler.