France's hard-right 'working class hero' Jordan Bardella has appeared to go public with an Italian princess girlfriend ahead of a potential presidential run next year.

The National Rally leader, 30, was pictured with Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, 22, in Corsica, in stage-managed images published by French magazine Paris Match.

The pair were shown strolling along a path on the Mediterranean island after the magazine said it had 'stumbled upon' them during a trip there.

The couple are reported to have first met at the Monaco Grand Prix last May, where Bardella attended with his father, a motor-racing enthusiast.

'Bardella posed for photos with the select few, whilst his gaze lingered on the beautiful princess sharing the VIP box,' Paris Match reported.

Born in 2003, Princess Maria Carolina is the elder daughter of Prince Carlo de Bourbon des Deux-Siciles, Duke of Castro.

The House of Bourbon des Deux-Siciles is a cadet branch of the Spanish royal family founded by Louis XIV's grandson Philip V of Spain.

The blonde aristocrat, who is fluent in six languages, attended Harvard and studied at the Istituto Marangoni in Italy, and moves in high circles.

In June 2024, she was photographed holding hands with Brigitte Macron at an event in Paris celebrating the 60th birthday of Stéphane Bern, a French royalty watcher.

She was also invited to sit in the front rows near François Hollande, the former French president, and Trump at the ceremony marking the reopening of Notre-Dame in December 2024.

Donald Trump invited the princess and her family to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in 2018, and the family publicly congratulated their 'friend' on his re-election on Nov 6 2024.

In 2024, the princess told Tatler: 'I am still waiting for Prince Charming to come and serenade me with a guitar and a red rose. The position is still open, and I'm accepting applications.'

The relationship marks a striking contrast for Bardella, who was raised by his working-class mother on a housing estate in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis and has built his political brand on championing ordinary French voters.

His partner is the daughter of Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro, and was brought up between Rome, Paris and Monte Carlo, part of a European royal lineage linked to the Bourbon-Two Sicilies dynasty.

The unlikely pairing has fuelled speculation in French media about how it could shape Bardella's public image as he positions himself for a possible Elysee bid.

Rumours had already been swirling after Bardella was seen with the duchess of Calabria and Palermo at high-profile events earlier this year, with images circulating in the French and Italian press in January.

Questioned afterwards, Bardella said: 'I do not wish for my private life to be discussed. It is my last bastion of freedom, and I intend to preserve it as much as possible,' before confessing to RTL that he was 'a happy man'. 

Commentators were quick to interpret the latest pictures as a deft move by the social media-savvy politician to soften his image ahead of a likely bid for the presidency.

'It's one more step in building his image after a nationwide tour to promote his book,' said Philippe Moreau Chevrolet, a communications professor at Sciences Po.

'This is the beginning of a story that will be fed over time and will turn into a serial. Soon we'll be getting other covers about holidays and dinners in town,' he added.

Bardella was likely seeking to push 'a narrative that humanises him and reassures people about his ability to commit', he said.

'Will his voters buy into the fairy tale of the descendant of Italian immigrants who's dating a princess? Or will they say he's betraying us to join the jet set? We don't know.'

Left-wing lawmaker Alexis Corbiere decried what he called 'a new stage in the normalisation of the far right'.

Maria Carolina on her website presents herself as a model with humanitarian interests who was brought up between Monte Carlo, Paris and Rome.

She says she was home-schooled and speaks Italian, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian.

Le Pen has since 2011 sought to distance what is now called the RN party from the legacy of her father who openly made antisemitic and racist statements. Bardella took over in 2022.

The RN became the biggest single party in parliament after Macron called snap polls in 2024, and it established a stronger footprint in local elections last month.

High-profile politicians have long turned to the pages of Paris Match.

Former president Nicolas Sarkozy gave the magazine an interview in 2007 before he was elected.

Francois Hollande also graced the front cover with his then partner journalist Valerie Trierweiler before he was elected in 2012.

A scandal erupted a few years later when another French glossy magazine said the president routinely hopped on a scooter to meet his mistress, actor Julie Gayet, whom he later married.

Macron and his wife Brigitte posed for Paris Match in 2016, before he was elected the following year.