The hospital denied it.President Chirac duly looked hale and hearty as he strode from the hospital yesterday.There was no sign of slurred speech as he launched into a long statement, mostly about the excellence of the care he had received and how lucky France was to have such an excellent heath service.”I feel in very good form,” M. The president of the French equivalent of the British Medical Association – the Conseil National de l’Ordre des Med?ns, Jacques Roland, complained on Wednesday that the bulletins were being issued not by doctors but by spin-doctors.”They are being written not by anyone with medical training but by his political advisers,” M Roland said. Further medical bulletins were reassuring but vague.It appeared – but was never clearly stated – that M. Chirac had suffered a “mini-stroke”, or minor failure of a cerebral vein. He was taken there last Friday with what was described as “un petit accident vasculaire” which had impaired his vision.No one – not even the Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin – was told until the following morning. France’s 72-year-old President strode from the Val-de-Gr? military hospital with a cheery wave, before making a longish speech to journalists and a crowd of well-wishers.

The crowd – chanting “Chi-rac, Chi-rac” – consisted mostly of supporters from his rural fiefdom in Corr?, who were bused 300 miles to the Paris suburbs for the occasion.The manner of the President’s leaving hospital appeared to have been carefully choreographed by his image adviser and daughter, Claude, to respond to the rumours swirling through the media-political village of Paris in recent days.These included: “The President cannot walk properly”; “The President has lost part of vision”; “His speech is slurred”; “He will never be able to fly again”.Such rumours filled the vacuum left by the paucity of information on President Chirac’s condition released from the military hospital at Val-de-Gr?.

In circumstances as stage-managed and puzzling as his illness, Jacques Chirac left hospital yesterday seven days after his “little vascular accident”. Pass the silk handkerchief, dearie!If you weren’t invited: You watched Ren?Zellweger’s film The Cinderella Man, premiered at the Curzon Soho on Thursday.. Her official “date” was her brother, Caleb.Meanwhile Rosamund Pike – who co-starred in the film with her former boyfriend, Simon Woods – broke down in tears when asked about the joys of working with her ex. Despite the very public love triangle, 20-year-old Knightley elegantly brushed off inquiries about the state of her private life, saying that Mr Darcy is the only male occupying her thoughts at present. In a scene straight out of a Jane Austen novel, Keira Knightley watched helplessly as both ex-boyfriend Jamie Dornan and her new man – Body Rockers musician Kaz James – turned up on the red carpet. This one – by the modish British production firm Working Title – stars Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet and Matthew MacFadyen as Mr Darcy.Who Was There: Knightley, MacFadyen, Judi Dench, Rosamund Pike, Donald Sutherland, Brenda Blethyn, Keeley Hawes, Natasha Richardson.The Gossip: Truth was as strange as fiction.

The after-party was supposedly closed to the press, but we saw VIPs plied with every delight the kitchens and cellars could provide.What: An all-star cast turned up for the UK premiere of yet another film version of the Jane Austen novel. Presenting the award, the judges admitted there’d been a “huge row” behind the scenes over the choice .If you weren’t invited: You saw it on TV. The Film Premiere: Pride and Prejudice When: Monday, 7pm.Where: The Odeon, Leicester Square, and afterwards at Banqueting House, Whitehall. They had only qualified for the prize – which is reserved for British musicians – because the singer, Antony Hegarty, was born in Chichester, before moving to the States during childhood. The American group Antony and the Johnsons, a virtually unknown act fronted by a cross-dressing former choirboy, were the surprise winners of the prestigious gong.

Special guests included Abi Titmuss and her new boyfriend, Lee Sharpe, and the music-loving Lib Dem leader, Charles Kennedy.The Gossip: Controversy over the big result. Fancied shortlisted acts who did put in an appearance included Kaiser Chiefs, the rap artist MIA, KT Tunstall, the Magic Numbers, and Hard-Fi The bash was hosted by Jools Holland and Jo Whiley. The record industry’s money men expect the Mercury results to set the tone for the rest of the coming season of music awards.Who Was There: The great and good of the record industry, together with most of the nominated bands – although Coldplay, who are touring the US, did not turn up. The Pop Party: Mercury Music Prize When: Tuesday 7pm-10.30pm.Where: The Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, home to London’s biggest ballroom.What: Thirteenth reprisal of London’s biggest annual music prize after the Brits. Mr Big had earlier been banned from the club for being poorly behaved, and (rumour has it) relieving himself on its deep-pile carpet.If you weren’t invited: You’re hoping for an invite to nip over to Henley for this week’s premier posh party: the wedding of Tom Parker Bowles – son of Camilla – to the fashion journalist Sara Buys. Some complained about the lack of canap? a problem exacerbated by the hostess, who kept taking them outside to feed her own dog, a Great Dane called Mr Big.