Carla Bruni ‘to record’ with new ‘friend’ Pete Doherty

French first lady Carla Bruni, who has long been thought of by elements in president Nicolas Sarkozy's party as a political liability, has reportedly befriended Pete Doherty, the rock star known chiefly for his drug addictions, run-ins with the law and being the ex-boyfriend of Kate Moss.

The Sunday Mirror claims the "junkie rocker" has been exchanging letters and regular phone calls with Bruni, who is pregnant with her second child, and the two have met up several times since she wrote to him requesting a rendez-vous a few months ago.

A "pal" of Doherty's says the pair have much in common, including "music, poetry, fashion and life". He believes they are "likely to make music together at some point in the future".

Bruni, who first became famous as a model, is a musician in her own right, having released three albums to moderate commercial success. Doherty first came to prominence in the indie band the Libertines before moving on to front Babyshambles.

While he is viewed by many in Britain with disdain for frequently missing or turning up late to gigs and his brushes with the law - which have included convictions for possession of crack and heroin, and for the burglary of his bandmate Carl Barat's flat - in France, Doherty is seen as something of a tortured genius. Doherty has described the country as his "spiritual home" and the Mirror claims he owns a flat in the bohemian Marais district of Paris.

There is no word yet from Bruni on her alleged new best friend, but readers of Madame Figaro will be unsurprised by the connection if it turns out to be true.

Shortly before her marriage to Sarkozy, she told the magazine: "I am a tamer [of men], a cat, an Italian - monogamy bores me terribly. I am monogamous from time to time but I prefer polygamy and polyandry." ·