The French president travelled alone to London, and met Queen Elizabeth II for the first time on Tuesday. Traditionally, heads of state visit the queen with their partners. But this time Trierweiler was kept out of sight.

Trierweiler has only been seen in public a couple of times since she let slip a controversial tweet in June. Between the two rounds of the legislative elections, she tweeted that she supported the opponent of Hollande’s ex Segolène Royal. 

Royal was running for a seat in the western town of La Rochelle and Trierweiler’s tweet sent shockwaves through the Socialist Party. 

Since the incident, Trierweiler has not been seen with her partner during state vists to Italy, Mexico and Brazil. 

The Elysée Palace says Trierweiler did not meet the queen because it was not a state visit but a informal meeting with the queen, Le Parisien reports. 

However, UK daily The Times says the president’s aides did not want the media to compare Trierweiler to Sarkozy’s wife Carla Bruni who had appeared newly-wed and very elegant during her first meeting with the queen.