If Mr Jean-Marie Le Pen were not who he is, you might feel sorry for him, writes Lara Marlowe in Paris. For misfortune has recently dogged the extreme-right wing leader. First the European Parliament, of which he is a member, lifted his immunity so a Munich tribunal could try him for Holocaust denial. Then a Versailles judge sentenced him to one year's ineligibility for public office for assaulting a female politician.
Worst of all, his former deputy, Mr Bruno Megret, last month succeeded in splitting the National Front (FN) party founded by Mr Le Pen. Now the bailiffs are at his door, and Mr Le Pen and his second wife, Jany, may be thrown out of their palatial home in Paris.
Mr Le Pen moved into the residence in 1991, when he married Jany Garnier, the ex-wife of Jean Garnier, one of his friends and supporters. Mr Garnier paid the newlyweds' rent until 1993 and was this week accused of defrauding his own company to do so.
The Le Pens have lived in the villa without paying rent since 1995, according to Secri, the company that owns the property. They now owe 1.8 million French francs in back rent (£274,000). Mrs Le Pen has lost two lawsuits challenging the sale of the villa, and the couple received an eviction order last month. But under French law, tenants cannot be forced to move in mid-winter.
Mr Le Pen is also losing his private army of 3,000 men, known as the DPS (Departement Protection Securite). The FN leader ordered the bodyguards not to provide security for the January 23rd-24th congress of the breakaway FN led by Mr Megret. In response, seven regional DPS leaders said they were putting themselves "at the disposition of Mr Megret", and Mr Gerard Hirel, in charge of training for the paramilitary group, also called on his men to "collaborate" with Mr Megret.