Two hundred thousand copies sold out in less than 48 hours, making the kiss-and-tell book by the former mistress of the French president a publishing phenomenon.

It has also become a subject thrown at François Hollande wherever he goes, throwing a cold shower on every public appearance.

It even pursued him to the NATO summit in Wales and forced its way onto a more urgent agenda.

“I’m not going to jeopardize the way I work in the service of the French people and especially the human relationship that I have with the weakest, the most humble and the poor in society. Because I’m at their service and it’s my reason for being,” said Hollande in Wales.

An opinion poll published before the book showed Hollande at a record low approval rating of just 13 percent.