Five members of the French president's private staff are being transferred amid questions over who took recent photos in a gossip magazine purporting to show Hollande with a French actress inside the Elysee Palace.

The French presidency on Monday confirmed the five are being sent to different jobs away from Hollande's "private service."

The photos of Hollande appearing with actress Julie Gayet were published last month by Voici. French media reported that they were taken from within the presidential private apartments.

The president and former partner Valerie Trierweiler broke up in January amid reports Hollande was having an affair with Gayet. Hollande has never denied it, but hasn't appeared publicly with Gayet.

The affair has raised concerns about presidential security and public figures' private lives in France.