French far-right leader romantically linked to Italian princess

French far-right leader romantically linked to Italian princess13 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleHugh SchofieldParisEPAJordan Bardella and Princess Maria Carolina Bourbon-Two Sicilies reportedly met during the Grand Prix in May last yearFrance's far-right presidential hopeful Jordan Bardella is in a relationship with Italian socialite Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, according to celebrity magazine Paris Match.In what has all the hallmarks of a staged "scoop", this week's front page carries photographs of the couple taken recently on holiday in Corsica with the headline "The idyll that no-one expected."Rumours of a love affair have been circulating since January when the pair were seen together at an event in Paris to mark the 200th anniversary of Le Figaro newspaper.But the 30-year-old president of the Rassemblement National (RN) party has consistently deflected interview questions, saying that his private life was his "last space of liberty."The Paris Match story suggests the decision has been taken to make the relationship official.Bardella will run for the French presidency next year if a court rules in July that historic party leader Marine Le Pen is ineligible because of a conviction for misuse of EU parliamentary funds. Polls say either RN candidate would stand a good chance of winning.Press commentators on Thursday said it was important for Bardella to be able to enter a presidential campaign with clarity about his personal life and who might possibly accompany him to the Elysée as first lady.But they also suggested the RN might want to defuse early any possible resentment among poorer voters about their leader's entanglement with an ultra-rich aristocrat.Maria Carolina – also Duchess of Calabria and Palermo – is the 22-year-old daughter of Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro, one of two contenders to leadership of the royal house of Bourbon-Two Sicilies which ruled Sicily and southern Ital...