Former Prime Minister Claims Giscard d'Estaing sexually assaulted her
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Former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt reported that the late French President, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, intentionally molested her and touched her thigh at a dinner at the French Embassy in Copenhagen in the early 2000s.
At the time, President Vig, as the French called him, was in his late seventies but still active in politics as the president of the European Convention.
He died last December at the age of 94 after contracting Covid.
Prior to his death, a number of women accused him of inappropriate behaviour, including a German reporter who said the former French president repeatedly harassed her during an interview in 2018. His lawyer vehemently denied the allegations.
Giscard d'Estaing also wrote a popular 2009 romance novel The Princess and the President depicting an affair between the French head of state and the fictional Princess of Cardiff - a character many believe to be based on Diana, Princess of Wales.
He later insisted that it was completely fake.
Speaking to "21 Sundag" on Sunday, Thorning said, "I remember former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing did that to me."
"I'm sure he molested me before," she adds, "unfortunately he passed away, and he is no longer with us."
Thorning made the comments during a promotional tour for her new book, Considerations of the Blonde, which includes her stance on feminist activism and the Me Too campaign, which was released on Monday.
She said she chose not to raise the harassment incident yet because she did not want to appear as a victim and that she was vulnerable.
However, she said she decided to break her silence out of concern that the Me Too movement was losing momentum.
She said she hopes her book will raise awareness that all women are potential targets for inappropriate behavior, regardless of their social standing.
Since stepping down as Prime Minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party after her defeat in the 2015 general election, she served as CEO of Save the Children until 2019.
Today, she holds a number of management positions, including a seat on Facebook's supervisory board.
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