Carla Bruni insisted in her debut interview on Wednesday that her marriage to French President Nicolas Sarkozy was for life and that she would put her pop star career on hold to become first lady.
"I am culturally Italian and I would not like to divorce," the former supermodel told L'Express week explaining the "instantaneous" love that, we'll see."
But she said she was determined to stamp her identity on her new role.
"Just as Nicolas is unlike his predecessors, I would also -- while respecting the dignity of the office, like to keep my own personality," said Bruni, who plans to keep her own flat as well as the Elysee apartment.
"I don't yet know what I can do as first lady, but I know how I want to do it: seriously," she told the weekly.
"I loved being a model, I adore being a singer I am also proud and happy to be France's first lady. I will do my best."
Sarkozy's romance with Bruni became public in December -- two months after his divorce from his second wife Cecilia -- and they married in a private ceremony at the Elysee palace on February 2.
Bruni dismissed suggestions the marriage happened too fast: "People tell me it all went to quickly. That's wrong: between Nicolas and me it wasn't quick, it was instantaneous."
"Those in love have their own rhythm. Ours is up tempo it seems to me that with him nothing bad can happen with him a certain anxiousness I've felt since childhood disappears."
But their celebrity courtship, jarring with the darkening mood of French voters worried about the economy, has been disastrous for Sarkozy's image, sending his ratings tumbling.
She said she stood by her opposition to some Sarkozy policies, including on immigration, but that "it's possible to talk with Nicolas... I wouldn't have married a man who doesn't let me think freely."
Bruni's first interview provided an immediate test of her freedom of speech, however, as she was forced to make a public apology for comments comparing a French magazine to the wartime pro-Nazi press.
"I wrongly compared the methods used by websites to those of the collaborationist press. If I offended anyone, I am extremely sorry," Bruni said. "I just wanted to say how much I dislike these personal attacks, which cheapen information. And potential danger they represent."