BERLIN (AFP) ― Germany’s former first lady, Bettina Wulff, denies she ever worked as an escort in a book to be published Wednesday, seven months after the ex-president stepped down over a political favors scandal.

In a chapter entitled “The Rumours,” 38-year-old Wulff seeks to snuff out stories that have swirled about an alleged previous life suggesting she worked as call girl under the pseudonym “Lady Viktoria.”

The former PR executive, who married Christian Wulff in 2008 and with whom she has a small son, writes in “Jenseits des Protokolls” (Beyond The Protocol) that she considers herself strong but cried “so much” over the rumors.

“I never worked as an escort. That is absolute rubbish,” she writes in the book, copies of which were available in some shops on Monday.

Wulff has also reportedly filed a lawsuit against Google to stop the search engine automatically throwing up words or phrases such as “escort” or “red light past” when her name is typed in.

A Google spokesman said the company would “let the court decide” but pointed out it had faced five similar cases in Germany which had all been rejected.

Google itself does not put forward the words that automatically pop up for searches, its spokesman Kay Oberbeck said, adding these terms came from the frequency of users’ search terms.

Wulff in her book also addresses the accusations that led to her husband stepping down in February from the largely ceremonial position after less than two years as Germany’s youngest head of state.

He became embroiled in a quick-fire series of scandals played out in the media, sparked by a report he had failed to declare an advantageous home loan from a wealthy friend’s wife while Lower Saxony state premier.