Editing Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (section)

==Personal life==
Giscard's name was often shortened to "VGE" by the [[Mass media in France|French media]].<ref name=WPO/> He was also known simply as ''l'Ex'', particularly during the time he was the only living former president.<ref>{{cite news |title=Valéry Giscard d'Estaing: un roman et des souvenirs |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/mon-figaro/2011/10/16/10001-20111016ARTFIG00196-valery-giscard-d-estaing-un-roman-et-des-souvenirs.php |access-date=5 December 2020 |work=Le Figaro |date=16 October 2011}}</ref>

On 17 December 1952, Giscard married [[Anne-Aymone Giscard d'Estaing|Anne-Aymone Sauvage de Brantes]]. The couple had four children.<ref name=NYTobit/>

Giscard's private life was the source of many rumours at both national and international level.<ref name=affairs/> His family did not live in the presidential [[Élysée Palace]], and ''[[The Independent]]'' reported on his affairs with women.<ref name=affairs>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/french-get-peek-at-all-the-presidents-women-1142633.html|title=French get peek at all the presidents' women|last=Lichfield|first=John|date=3 February 1998|work=The Independent|access-date=17 January 2014}}</ref> In 1974, ''[[Le Monde]]'' reported that he used to leave a sealed letter stating his whereabouts in case of emergency.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com/preview/1974/11/30/pagina-21/34239133/pdf.html?search=giscard+coche+accidente|title=Edición del sábado, 30 noviembre 1974, página 21 - Hemeroteca - Lavanguardia.es|website=La Vanguardia}}</ref>

In May 2020, Giscard was accused of groping a German journalist's buttocks during an interview in 2018.<ref name=NYTSH>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/08/world/europe/german-journalist-valery-giscard-destaing.html|title=Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Ex-French President, Accused of Groping Journalist|work=[[The New York Times]]|first1=Aurelien|last1=Breeden|first2=Christopher F.|last2= Schuetze|date=8 May 2020|access-date=3 October 2020}}</ref> He denied the accusation.<ref name=NYTSH/>

===Possession of the Estaing castle===
[[File:Estaing - Chateau 4.jpg|left|upright|thumb|The Estaing castle in 2007]]
In 2005 he and his brother bought the castle of [[Estaing, Aveyron|Estaing]], formerly a possession of the above-mentioned Admiral d'Estaing who was beheaded in 1794.<ref name=BBCobit/><ref name=castle>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/giscard-destaing-a-victim-of-chateau-slump-881406.html|title=Giscard d'Estaing a victim of chateau slump|date=31 July 2008|publisher=The Independent.uk|access-date=3 December 2020}}</ref> The brothers never used the castle as a residence but for its symbolic value, and they explained the purchase, supported by the local municipality, as an act of patronage.<ref name=castle/> However, a number of major newspapers in several countries questioned their motives and some hinted at self-appointed nobility and a usurped historical identity.<ref>''Le Monde'' 24 December 4, AFP Toulouse 23 December 4, ''Le Figaro'' 22 January 5, ''[[Neue Zürcher Zeitung]]'' 15 February 5, ''The Sunday Times'' 16 January 05</ref><ref name=castle/> The castle was put up for sale in 2008 for €3&nbsp;million<ref name=castle/> and is now the property of the Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Foundation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tourisme-aveyron.com/en/diffusio/sites-visit/chateau-d-estaing-estaing_TFO16017250270|title=CHÂTEAU D'ESTAING|publisher=Agence de Développement Touristique de l'Aveyron|access-date=4 December 2020}}</ref>

===2009 novel===
Giscard wrote his second romantic novel, published on 1 October 2009 in France, entitled ''The Princess and the President''.<ref name=diana/> It tells the story of French President Jacques-Henri Lambertye having a romantic liaison with Patricia, Princess of Cardiff of the British royal family.<ref name=diana/> This fuelled rumours that the piece of fiction was based on a real-life liaison between Giscard and [[Diana, Princess of Wales]].<ref name=diana>{{cite web|url=http://www.connexionfrance.com/news_articles.php?id=1074|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091005083530/http://www.connexionfrance.com/news_articles.php?id=1074|archive-date=5 October 2009|title=Giscard hints at affair with Diana|work=Connexion|date=21 September 2009|access-date=3 June 2011}}</ref> He later stressed that the story was entirely made up and no such affair had actually occurred.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.connexionfrance.com/news_articles.php?id=1082|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091005175525/http://www.connexionfrance.com/news_articles.php?id=1082|archive-date=5 October 2009|title=Giscard: I made up Diana love story|work=Connexion|date=24 September 2009|access-date=3 June 2011}}</ref>