We all love our First Ladies to add a bit of glamour and sparkle to their usually drab and monochrome husbands, especially in those otherwise dreary photo calls. However one particular First Lady seems to be trying to make looking glamorous into an Olympic event – Chantal Biya, 38 year old wife of the President of Cameroon.

Chantal is not the first First Lady to accompany Paul Biya. His first wife died in 1992 and he remarried with what some consider to have been undue haste. And who did his beady eye light upon? None other than his son’s girl friend, Chantal. Her mother too has dabbled in politics, although she has only risen to the level of mayor.

Mme Biya loves the limelight. She’s been photographed hob-nobbing with royalty and the political classes the world over, and also likes to be seen in the company of the western glitterati. She (and hubby) recently spent $40,000 a day at a hotel on the west coast of France, commandeering an entire floor of the Hermitage Hotel in La Baule.

But it’s her wardrobe that she is best known for and of which she is presumably most proud. A different get-up for every occasion, and increasingly bigger hair-does for every outing. My particular favourite is what she chose to wear for a Papal visit, but I can’t make up my mind about whose dresses I prefer – Chantal’s or Pope Benny’s.

And what about that hat? I just have to keep coming back to it again and again, and it’s a pity she won’t really have another occasion to wear it.

But let’s not be too hard on Chantal. She is also a bit of a power house when it comes to setting up charities for the people of her country, especially when it comes to help for people suffering because of HIV/AIDS.

Don’t the other First Ladies on African nations look rather “businesslike” compared to party girl Chantal? I wonder do the other Presidents pass around lots of knowing nods and winks when the cameras aren’t around.