Berlusconi ex-wife hits back over gossip magazine's 'unacceptable attack' | World news | The Guardian Italy Berlusconi ex-wife hits back over gossip magazine's 'unacceptable attack' Chi, a publication with links to ex-Italian PM's family, printed unflattering paparazzi pictures suggesting Veronica Lario get plastic surgery Veronica Lario with Silvio Berlusconi in 2004.

Lario said: 'I don't attend to my waistline or the wrinkles on my neck … Is that sufficient motive for suggesting that I go to a plastic surgeon?' Photograph: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images Italy Berlusconi ex-wife hits back over gossip magazine's 'unacceptable attack' Chi, a publication with links to ex-Italian PM's family, printed unflattering paparazzi pictures suggesting Veronica Lario get plastic surgery Monday 19 May 2014 11.55 EDT First published on Monday 19 May 2014 11.55 EDT Close This article is 2 years old A row over the way older women are portrayed in the media has erupted in Italy – with the ex-wife of Silvio Berlusconi emerging as a perhaps unlikely crusader against female objectification. Veronica Lario, who left the former prime minister in 2009 after nearly 20 years of marriage, reacted with fury after the celebrity gossip magazine Chi published a spread of paparazzi photographs of her under unflattering headlines claiming she had put on weight and asking "experts" what kind of plastic surgery could help her combat the ageing process.

The fact that Chi is published by Mondadori, controlled by the Berlusconi family holding company Fininvest, and regularly attacks the centre-right leader's enemies, only served to rub salt in the wounds. Lario, who is reported to have pushed for a divorce settlement of more than €500m (£408mm), called the Chi feature "an unacceptable attack" that wounded not only her but all women "who, like me, want to age without subjugating themselves to the 'young at all costs' stereotype". The former actor, 57, told Il Messaggero: "I am almost 60 years old; probably, according to current obsessive standards, I am not ageing well. I don't attend to my waistline or the wrinkles on my neck … Is that sufficient motive for suggesting that I – and, I assume, all my peers – go to a plastic surgeon?" The interview, published on Sunday, was met with support from women across the political spectrum, including from within Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI) party, which is leading a lacklustre campaign ahead of this week's European elections.

"Everyone has the right to grow old as they wish and no one should feel they can tell a lady what she should do," said Renata Polverini, an FI MP. "What is this, a dictatorship of eternal youth to enrich [plastic] surgeons?" Alessandra Moretti, from the centre-left Democratic party, said the Chi piece was an example of "a last legacy of macho culture that wants to chain us women to a stereotype of beauty". She cited the formidable Oscar-winning actor Anna Magnani, famed not only for her films but for having defended her wrinkles. Lorella Zanardo, director of a 2009 documentary entitled Il Corpo delle Donne (Women's Bodies), also said she gave Lario her "total solidarity". "Older women represent just 4.8% of [faces on] TV … The media must represent women as they are and must give space not only to women who have had cosmetic surgery but to those who age with their own face," she was quoted as saying. The magazine, however, was unrepentant.

Just as it has brushed off past controversies – including one involving photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge topless on holiday – it insisted it had every right to poke fun at public figures. "As soon as I read her [Lario's] interview, I laughed," Alfonso Signorini, editor of Chi, told Il Messaggero. "With all the problems that Italy has, is Veronica Lario's cellulite really becoming a national political problem? … That Chi is concerned with her extra kilos is normal. We are a gossip magazine … But politicians and intellectuals should concern themselves with much more serious matters." In her attack, Lario – whose real name is Miriam Bartolini – accused the magazine of setting a bad example to young women "who today ask for liposuction for their birthday" and said its use of so-called medical experts was "ethically reprehensible". But Signorini was having none of it. "Mrs Lario, when she was very young, posed for some reports that did not represent a good model for 16-year-olds then or now," he said.

"Also, to her who speaks of examples, I would like to ask: do you think it sets a good example, for a country like ours in crisis and with many Italians almost reduced to starvation, to live on Berlusconi's €47,000 a day?" The figure appeared to be a reference to a temporary alimony agreement, according to which Lario reportedly receives €1.4m a month from Berlusconi. The ex-couple have agreed to a divorce but the financial settlement remains subject to court proceedings. According to a report earlier this month, she asked for a one-off payment of €540m. Lario first met Berlusconi, a television magnate whose channels abound with scantily-clad showgirls, during a performance in a Milan theatre in 1980 in which she appeared topless. The couple went on to have three children together. SheLario announced she was leaving him after reports surfaced that he had attended the 18th birthday party of a young woman who reportedly called him "Daddy". Berlusconi, 77, currently serving community service for a tax fraud conviction and expelled from the Italian senate, is now dating former television showgirl Francesca Pascale.

She is 28, and keen to marry. Berlusconi denies "steamy affair" with 18-year-old | The Independent Berlusconi denies "steamy affair" with 18-year-old Thursday 28 May 2009 13:36 BST Click to follow Berlusconi denies "steamy affair" with 18-year-old 1/5 5/5 VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images The Italian Prime Minister said he would have to resign if caught lying about aspiring model Noemi Letizia. The 72-year-old conservative leader's relationship with an 18-year-old has become an explosive political issue in Italy after his wife Veronica demanded a divorce because of his womanising and said he was "not well". Berlusconi has denied any wrongdoing or lying in his apparently contradictory explanations of why he went to Noemi Letizia's 18th birthday and gave her an expensive necklace. He has promised to explain it all in parliament but not set a date.

He told reporters in Rome that if someone asked whether he had "a relationship, let's say steamy or more than steamy, with an underage girl", his answer would be: "Absolutely not." "I have sworn it on the life of my children. And I said that I am aware that, if this were perjury, I would have to resign a minute later," said Berlusconi, who was elected for a third time last year and enjoys strong support in opinion polls. The flamboyant media magnate normally has the support of the Roman Catholic establishment in Italy, but it has criticised him for setting a bad example to the country's young people with his behaviour and his very public second divorce. The age of consent for sex in Italy is 16 but people under 18 are considered minors. Letizia turned 18 last month and was photographed with Berlusconi at her birthday party, and at other social events last year when she was 17.

The opposition has targeted Berlusconi's behaviour ahead of European elections in June and centre-left leader Dario Franceschini, on the campaign trail, asked bambini-loving Italians: "Would you have your children raised by this man?" The comment proved too much for Berlusconi's offspring. They rarely make public statements - they refused to take sides when Veronica asked for a divorce this month - but they reacted with fury to Franceschini's remark. "Angry? I am indignant. Furious. No, this is enough," Marina, Berlusconi's daughter from his first marriage and chairman of publisher Mondadori, which is part of Berlusconi's business empire, told Corriere della Sera newspaper. "This time, I don't intend to stay silent ... My father has always worked a lot, but there has never been a time, a single time, in which I did not have him near when I needed him." Son Pier Silvio, deputy chairman of the Berlusconi family broadcasting company Mediaset, demanded to know in a statement how the opposition leader dared make such a "bad taste" comment and said he shared his father's values.

Berlusconi's three children with Veronica Lario also put out a statement saying they were "brought up in a family atmosphere that was balanced and full of values". "Not everything can be put to an opinion poll. As for the question on whether a father is capable of raising a child, the only ones who can respond to that are the children themselves," Barbara, Eleonora and Luigi Berlusconi said in the statement. "Politics should not turn to judging the role of a father, which has nothing to do with politics." More about: Silvio the seducer: But now the wife of Italy's sex-addicted PM is vowing to reveal all about her husband's womanising ways | Daily Mail Online Silvio the seducer: But now the wife of Italy's sex-addicted PM is vowing to reveal all about her husband's womanising ways comments He serves showgirls to friends like others serve drinks but saves the prettiest for himself. Now the wife of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is vowing to wash their dirty linen in public...

and she'll need a VERY long washing line Shortly before Silvio Berlusconi was due to give a speech to the Italian parliament a few years ago, he penned a note (caught on camera) to two of his female deputies. 'Gabri, Nunzia, you look great together!' he wrote. 'Thanks for staying here, but it's not necessary. If you have some romantic appointment at lunchtime, I authorise you to leave! Many kisses to both of you!!!' It was, by any normal standards, a vulgar and hugely inappropriate message for a premier to send to senior party colleagues. Yet far from being shocked or insulted, the two women replied, simply: 'We accept romantic appointments only from you.' That brief exchange goes some way to explaining this weekend's revelation that Berlusconi's long-suffering wife, Veronica Lario, has finally said 'basta'. Enough. She can't take it any more. She has announced that she is filing for divorce from her husband. Veronica Lario has finally declared 'enough' and ended her marriage to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Few doubt that it is going to be a messy and acrimonious separation.

Already, Berlusconi has come forward to demand a public apology from his wife, even threatening to sue her for defamation. He claims she has been misled by inaccurate reports about his personal life, and is trying to exact revenge by damaging his credibility in the buildup to June's European elections. 'It is the third time she has done this to me in the middle of an election campaign,' Berlusconi told one paper yesterday. 'It is too much.' Suffice it to say that if Lario and Berlusconi start washing their dirty linen in public there will need to be a very, very long washing line. In many ways, it's a miracle that the marriage has survived this long. Berlusconi is a self-confessed donnaiolo, a womaniser. Like Benito Mussolini before him, he enjoys a reputation as a tireless seducer and frequently boasts about, rather than denies, his conquests. Two years ago, he was photographed holding hands with, and cuddling up to, five young girls. 'Berlusconi's Harem' was the headline of the magazine that broke the story. When his wife complained, Berlusconi, now 72, joked that he was trying to court only four of them.

Special friend: Noemi Letizia, the 18-year-old who received a gold necklace from Berlusconi, whom she calls 'papi' The last straw for Lario appears to have been Berlusconi's visit to a young girl's 18th birthday party last week. He gave the girl - who calls him Papi, or 'Daddy' - a gold necklace studded with diamonds. 'He's consorting with minors,' Lario complained, adding that he had never attended any of his own children's 18th birthdays. The tension in the marriage had already been evident a few days earlier when Berlusconi announced his intention to field a clutch of glamour girls for the European elections. Among his suggestions were two former beauty contestants, a lingerie model and a former participant from Big Brother. So outraged was his wife that she fired off an email to Ansa, the Italian news service, underlining her disdain for such candidates, saying that these young girls were 'pieces of costume jewellery . . . shameful trash, all in the name of power'. RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share Not that Lario should have been surprised by such behaviour.

As many commentators have pointed out she was, 30 years ago, not much different from the women she is now criticising. Berlusconi first met his wife in 1980 when she was performing topless in a play called - ironically - The Magnificent Cuckold. Afterwards Berlusconi went backstage and worked his magic. 'He said I was "brava",' Lario said in a recent biography. 'I believed him and have never stopped believing him.' But Berlusconi was at the time married to his first wife, and Lario (real name Raffaela Miriam Bartolini) was, for many years, his 'bit on the side'. They had three children before they married in December 1990. Indeed Berlusconi's life has, in many ways, been one seamless narrative of bringing the worlds of sexy television starlets and politics together. Even when he was emerging as a TV entrepreneur, he used to serve up his most beautiful showgirls to politicians in the same way most people serve drinks in the hope of currying political favour.

More than 20 years ago, on New Year's Eve 1986, he was recorded talking to a friend describing how he was trying to get two girls from Drive In, one of his TV shows, to come round to 'service' the then Prime Minister, Bettino Craxi. The political protegée: Eleonora Gaggioli, chosen by Berlusconi to contest the upcoming European elections Now that Berlusconi himself is Prime Minister, it's he who can enjoy the pickings, and reward his chosen ones. Young women get promoted in television because they suit Berlusconi's sexual or political ambitions. In 2003, Virginia Sanjust di Teulada was a TV announcer who happened to be introducing one of Prime Minister Berlusconi's economic measures. He liked what he saw, sent her flowers, and she sent back a thank-you note with her mobile number. Although she was married, they had lunch, he gave her a diamond bracelet and a romance was born. Lo and behold, she got her own TV show. Berlusconi has also tried to get other women hired purely on the basis that they were the girlfriends of politicians he needed to influence.

In another wiretap from 2008, Berlusconi was caught talking to Agostino Saccà, head of fiction at Rai, the Italian state broadcaster. In the recording, Berlusconi thanks Saccà for occasionally providing women to improve his mood, but explains that this time he has phoned up for a different kind of favour. He asks for a particular girl to be given a role in a drama because she was the current squeeze of a possible defector from Prodi's Left-wing coalition that Berlusconi was attempting to bring down. But perhaps the most astonishing case of all concerns Mara Carfagna, a former topless model and TV showgirl, who switched to a career in politics. When Carfagna took up her post, Berlusconi joked that he exercised a droit de seigneur over all parliamentary virgins, later admitting in public: 'If I hadn't been married, I would have married her immediately.' Unsurprisingly, such comments outraged his wife, who demanded, and received, a public apology. And yet rumours of a relationship between Berlusconi and Carfagna persist, as do rumours of the existence of a wiretap of a highly erotic conversation between the two.

Carfagna is now - more irony - the Italian Minister for Equal Opportunities. Small wonder, then, that at least one politician has resigned from the party, describing Berlusconi's political system as a mignottocrazia, a ' whoreocracy'. Another opposition politician has called Berlusconi, bluntly, 'a pimp'. The potential MEP: Former TV presenter Barbara Matera Certainly, the premier's hypocrisy is quite breathtaking. Berlusconi's Right-wing coalition talks constantly about traditional, Catholic family values, but neither he nor any of his political allies has a 'traditional' family. Umberto Bossi and Gianfranco Fini, the leading partners in Berlusconi's coalition, have both divorced and set up with younger women; Fini, inevitably, with a young television presenter. Such sexual incontinence might end a political career in relatively puritan Britain, where we believe, not unreasonably, that a politician who is willing to deceive his wife is also quite likely to deceive the electorate. But in Italy they have a different morality. Here, a man with 'a harem' is, for many, a figure of admiration and envy. Berlusconi's womanising seems only to add to his popularity.

Which is why he often boasts openly of putting it about. It's telling that his favourite joke is the one about a man stranded on a desert island with Claudia Schiffer. After a few days of relentless lovemaking the man begs Schiffer to pretend to be his best mate. OK, she says, I'm your best mate. 'You won't believe it!' the man says to his imaginary friend. 'I'm sleeping with Claudia Schiffer.' The joke reveals much about Berlusconi. Like an adolescent schoolboy, he finds that boasting about sex is more important than the sex itself. He longs for everyone to know how successful he is between the sheets. Which has led, inevitably, to some toe-curling moments on the international stage. The Equality Minister: Mara Carfagna, the Italian former TV 'showgirl' and now deputy for Berlusconi's 'Forza Italia' party A few years ago he said that he had secured the Food Safety Authority for Italy by using his playboy tactics on the female Finnish president Tarja Halonen. Finland and Halonen were not amused.

This year, he caused more cringeing when he told the French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in front of the world's press, that he, Berlusconi, had 'given him' his Italian wife, Carla Bruni. But there's a serious side in all this. Berlusconi has slowly emerged as someone who loves sex, but who cares little for women. In January, following a spate of rape cases, Berlusconi said that nothing he could do - not even sending in the troops - would help to prevent rape cases, because Italian girls are so beautiful. It's a line that's not much different from the rapist's defence of 'She was wearing a mini-skirt, your honour'. As if that wasn't crass enough, while walking around the areas of Italy devastated by last month's earthquake, he quipped to a female medic: 'I wouldn't mind being resuscitated by you.' All of which leads many people to suspect that Berlusconi has a sex addiction, a pathological inability to see women as anything other than sex objects.

One man who frequently had breakfast with Berlusconi in the 1980s has said that he would bring a different woman every time: 'It was a sort of obsession with him.' Berlusconi himself once said that he clinched a business deal because he spent a four-hour train journey amusing his opposite number with details of the intimate parts of women he had known. Few doubt that Berlusconi's wife will now try to hit Silvio where it hurts: in his wallet. He is one of Europe's richest men, with Forbes magazine estimating his personal fortune at some £4.4 billion. But she may also manage to hit him where he least expects it: in Parliament. Isolated incidents have suggested that Lario is closer to the Left-wing opposition than her husband's Right-wing government. In 2003, for example, she defended the pacifists protesting against the ruling party's involvement in the Iraq war. Berlusconi himself even suggested a few years ago that his wife was having an affair with the Left-wing mayor of Venice. Whether it was true or not, Lario appears to have drifted away not just from her husband's affections but also from his political beliefs.

Were she to enter the weird and wonderful world of Italian politics, she might just be able to chase him out of power, as well as out of the house. Tobias Jones is the author of The Dark Heart of Italy Berlusconi would 'have to resign' if lying about affair with teenager - France 24 Berlusconi would 'have to resign' if lying about affair with teenager Text by NEWS WIRES Latest update : 2009-05-28 Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has denied having an affair with 18-year-old, family friend Noemi Letizia (right, in photos) and said he would have to resign if he were lying. Berlusconi's wife has publicly accused him of the affair. REUTERS - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, facing demands to explain his relationship with a teenage girl, denied on Thursday he had had a "steamy affair" and said he would have to resign if caught lying about it. The 72-year-old conservative leader's relationship with an 18-year-old has become an explosive political issue in Italy after his wife Veronica demanded a divorce because of his womanising and said he was "not well".

Berlusconi has denied any wrongdoing or lying in his apparently contradictory explanations of why he went to Noemi Letizia's 18th birthday and gave her an expensive necklace. He has promised to explain it all in parliament but not set a date. He told reporters in Rome that if someone asked whether he had "a relationship, let's say steamy or more than steamy, with an underage girl", his answer would be: "Absolutely not." "I have sworn it on the life of my children. And I said that I am aware that, if this were perjury, I would have to resign a minute later," said Berlusconi, who was elected for a third time last year and enjoys strong support in opinion polls. The flamboyant media magnate normally has the support of the Roman Catholic establishment in Italy, but it has criticised him for setting a bad example to the country's young people with his behaviour and his very public second divorce. The age of consent for sex in Italy is 16 but people under 18 are considered minors. Letizia turned 18 last month and was photographed with Berlusconi at her birthday party, and at other social events last year when she was 17.

Children Furious The opposition has targeted Berlusconi's behaviour ahead of European elections in June and centre-left leader Dario Franceschini, on the campaign trail, asked bambini-loving Italians: "Would you have your children raised by this man?" The comment proved too much for Berlusconi's offspring. They rarely make public statements -- they refused to take sides when Veronica asked for a divorce this month -- but they reacted with fury to Franceschini's remark. "Angry? I am indignant. Furious. No, this is enough," Marina, Berlusconi's daughter from his first marriage and chairman of publisher Mondadori, which is part of Berlusconi's business empire, told Corriere della Sera newspaper. "This time, I don't intend to stay silent ... My father has always worked a lot, but there has never been a time, a single time, in which I did not have him near when I needed him." Son Pier Silvio, deputy chairman of the Berlusconi family broadcasting company Mediaset, demanded to know in a statement how the opposition leader dared make such a "bad taste" comment and said he shared his father's values.

Berlusconi's three children with Veronica Lario also put out a statement saying they were "brought up in a family atmosphere that was balanced and full of values". "Not everything can be put to an opinion poll. As for the question on whether a father is capable of raising a child, the only ones who can respond to that are the children themselves," Barbara, Eleonora and Luigi Berlusconi said in the statement. "Politics should not turn to judging the role of a father, which has nothing to do with politics." Berlusconi hits back at Veronica Lario: 'It's all lies and she should apologise' | Daily Mail Online comments Silvo Berlusconi has gone on TV to demand an apology from his wife - but is facing further claims of sleazy behaviour after a video emerged of him asking to 'fondle' a woman. Berlusconi, 72, went on primetime show Porta Porta (Door to Door) to defend himself after Veronica Lario accused him of 'consorting with minors' and asked for a divorce. He said his 52-year-old wife had fallen victim to a 'Left-wing conspiracy' and should apologise.

She has also suggested he wanted leggy women to stand as MEPs in next months Euro elections. Feeling the heat: Mr Berlusconi mops his brow in the TV studio But his defence was dealt a blow by footage posted on Italian news websites. Berlusconi was visiting the central Italian region where 297 people died in last month's earthquake when he put his arm around 41-year-old local councillor Lia Giovanzzi Beltrami and said: 'Can I fondle her?' Asked about the incident, Miss Beltrami said: 'I was left annoyed by what he said but I didn't want to say anything at the time because at that moment the most important thing was those hit by the tragedy.' He claimed Lario had 'fallen into a trap' set by the media when she believed he was having a relationship with 18-year-old Noemi Letizia.

He told the programme: 'If there was anything spicy or less than clean in the relationship between the premier and a woman younger than 18, wouldn't it seem crazy for the premier to go to a public function and be photographed all over the place?' Fighting his corner: Mr Berlusconi sits in front of an image of his wife Veronica Lario during the filming of TV show Porta a Porta (Door to Door) in Rome yesterday 'I believe that someone who is charged with public functions like the premier can only accept the continuation of a relationship if there's an admission that her accusations were based on lies and if she publicly declares she was in error,' he said, referring to his wife. In a statement last week, Lario said she was outraged that Berlusconi's political party was lining up TV showgirls and starlets as European Parliament candidates. She also lashed out at the premier's attendance at Letizia's 18th birthday party, claiming he had never come to the coming-out parties of his own children. Letizia has been quoted as saying she calls Berlusconi 'papi' or 'daddy' and has been photographed sporting a gold and diamond necklace the premier reportedly gave her as a birthday gift.

Berlusconi said he ended up at Letizia's party by chance, because her father wanted to see him and he happened to be in Naples at the time on official business, near the restaurant where the party was under way. He also denied that showgirls were among his party's European Parliament candidates. But he defended the record of the TV starlets in his Cabinet and in parliament, saying they far outmatched the men. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's behaviour has been condemned as 'worrying' by the official newspaper of the Italian Catholic Bishops Conference. His wife Veronica Lario (above) is also not impressed Berlusconi has also come under fire from the Roman Catholic Church, one of his biggest allies, amid continuing controversy over his impending divorce. In a front-page editorial Avvenire, the official newspaper of the Italian Catholic Bishops Conference, condemned the Italian prime minister's behaviour as 'worrying'. The stinging commentary added that Italy deserved a leader who was a 'mirror of the country's soul' and called on him to be more 'sober and sombre'.

RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share Berlusconi has been in the spotlight after his long suffering wife, 52, announced she was divorcing him because she was 'fed up seeing him with minors'. She also dismissed his idea of having young, attractive female MEP's as 'shameless rubbish' which had been created for the 'entertainment of the Emperor'. Berlusconi was elected last year with a strong Catholic vote as his centre-Right coalition promotes family values and backs the teachings of the church. Berlusconi's wife is furious he attended the 18-year-old birthday party of Noemi Letizia. Above Noemi in her home in Naples Insiders say Berlusconi is worried that he risks losing the support of the Catholic voters and that is pushing him towards trying to reach an out of court settlement with his wife and avoid 'airing dirty laundry on a very long line'. In its editorial, under the headline 'Politics and Showbusiness, a deadly embrace', Avvenire said: 'We know that a man of the government is judged by what he achieves, for his programmes and for the quality of the laws that he contributes to passing.

'But the quality of a leader, his style and his values should also not be indifferent - they cannot be. Because of this we ask that the Prime Minister is more sober, sombre and a mirror of the country's soul.' It added that it was 'worrying' that Berlusconi had an 'exuberance and a weakness for young, flowing actresses.' Meanwhile, pictures of Berlusconi at the 18th birthday party of Noemi Letizia were also published which showed him standing with her parents in a family line-up holding a glass of champagne. Lawyers are discussing the terms of the couple's split. Lario has said she wants it to be 'calm and without fuss' but insiders say she will want to secure a good piece of Berlusconi's $9billion fortune for their three children.

Concentrating on the day job: Berlusconi with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman during their meeting at Chigi palace in Rome Silvio's Teflon triumph: Berlusconi enjoys electoral success | The Independent Silvio's Teflon triumph: Berlusconi enjoys electoral success Despite the lurid headlines, nothing seems to stick to Italy's PM &ndash; as the latest elections demonstrate Tuesday 23 June 2009 23:00 BST Click to follow Silvio's Teflon triumph: Berlusconi enjoys electoral success 1/10 10/10 GETTY IMAGES Silvio Berlusconi can breathe again. After weeks of revelations about his private life – culminating in a prosecutor's decision to question dozens of young women on suspicion that they were paid to attend his parties – Italy's Prime Minister shrugged off the pressure yesterday, recording a convincing victory for his centre-right coalition in provincial and municipal elections across the country. Beyond Italy's borders it may seem inconceivable that an elected national leader could comport himself like an ancient Roman emperor without facing grave political consequences.

But within Italy, Mr Berlusconi's fallible humanity and the fact that he is not so obsessed with power play that he has no time for the sweeter things in life, are seen by many as points in his favour. So while the centre-left celebrated their success in hanging on to much of its traditional "red zone" in central Italy, Mr Berlusconi's Freedom People Party managed to seize control of Milan and Venice. "If this is a victory for the opposition, we always want to lose like this," Mr Berlusconi crowed after results were in. "Before this provincial election, the Freedom People governed five million people [in the constituencies which voted]. Now it governs as many as 21 million." In reality the result was more complex and nuanced, and according to Italy's top pollster, Renato Mannheimer, a steep rise in abstentions was the most important new development. Mr Berlusconi is also responsible for the fact that the popular opinion of politicians has sunk to a new low, 25 per cent of people associating politics with "disgust", and another 22 per cent with "anger". And Mr Berlusconi is by no means out of the woods.

Since his wife of 20 years, Veronica Lario, announced in early May that she was suing for divorce because of his endless womanising, the Italian Prime Minister has been engulfed by wave after wave of damaging revelations regarding his apparent obsession with surrounding himself with pouting lovelies. One of the women invited to a party last November at Mr Berlusconi's home in a palazzo in central Rome, 42-year-old Patrizia D'Addario, said she was promised €2,000 (£1,700) to attend and when she saw the gaggle of women already present, said to herself: "But this is a harem." Photographs were released of two other women, Lucia Rossini and Barbara Montereale, supposedly taken by themselves in the bathroom in Mr Berlusconi's apartment.

And now as many as 30 women invited to such events, many of them from eastern Europe, are being questioned by prosecutors as part of an investigation into the alleged procuring of prostitutes for these parties, while a business acquaintance of Mr Berlusconi, Giampaolo Tarantini, who Ms D'Addario said had paid her for attending the party, is also to be questioned in the same investigation. Mr Tarantini has denied the accusations, but publicly apologised to Mr Berlusconi for the embarrassment the affair had caused. Yesterday, in an interview published in La Famiglia Cristiana, Italy's best-selling weekly, whose editor says he has received "many angry letters" about the Prime Minister's peccadilloes, Mr Berlusconi attempted to draw a line under his troubles. He claimed that Ms D'Addario had been given "a very precise and well-compensated mandate" to discredit him, but denied flatly that he had paid any of the women. "I have never paid a woman," he declared. "I have never understood what satisfaction there would be if not in the satisfaction of conquest... There is nothing in my private life for which I must apologise." But the editor of the magazine thought otherwise.

"It's gone beyond the limits of decency," Antonio Sciortino wrote of the affair in the magazine. "One cannot ignore the moral emergency, one cannot pretend that nothing has happened. Christians – as the letters from readers demonstrate – are appalled by this climate of moral decadence." Taken together with recent criticism in the columns of L'Avvenire and by the Archbishop of Lanciano-Ortona, these words must send alarm bells ringing in the Berlusconi camp. No Italian politician with their wits about them likes to alienate the Catholic vote. So the scandal continues to fester, though Mr Berlusconi will not face another electoral test until next year. And already the accusations against him have obliged him to abandon or at least downplay his ambitions for the highest office in the land, that of president. "I have no interest in being president," he replied flatly when questioned about it in recent days. This week three academics at Italian universities have gathered "hundreds" of signatures for a letter to the wives of G8 leaders due to arrive in Italy next month for the G8 summit, urging them to boycott the event because of "the way in which prime minister Silvio Berlusconi treats women both in public and in private".

The proximity of the scandal to the summit revives unpleasant memories for Mr Berlusconi: at a summit in 1994, during his first term as PM, he was served with legal papers alleging corruption. Soon afterwards he resigned. More about: Berlusconi denies ‘spicy’ affair – Cervantes Berlusconi denies ‘spicy’ affair Ms Letizia sports the gold and diamond pendant given to her by the PM Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has denied having an affair with an underage girl and said he would resign if he was caught lying about it. Mr Berlusconi said that if someone asked had he had “a spicy or more than spicy” relationship with a minor, his answer would be “absolutely not”. “I have sworn this on the lives of my children,” he told reporters in Rome. Mr Berlusconi, 72, is under pressure to explain his relationship with Noemi Letizia, 18, an aspiring model.

His wife, Veronica Lario, announced earlier this month that she was divorcing him after it was reported that he had attended Ms Letizia’s 18th birthday party in Naples and given her an expensive necklace “I cannot remain with a man who consorts with minors,” she said. Mr Berlusconi said he had only gone to Ms Letizia’s party because he happened to be in Naples that day and was an old family friend. But photographs later emerged of them together at several social events last year, when she was 17. The prime minister also confirmed that she had stayed at his villa in Sardinia and attended a new year’s party there. ‘Furious’ During a meeting with reporters in Rome on Thursday, Mr Berlusconi repeated previous denials that he had had sex with a minor.

BEING MRS BERLUSCONI In Feb 2007, Veronica demanded a public apology from her husband for his flirting, to which he replied with a written one In the 2004 biography Veronica’s Tendency she revealed that “Silvio eats lunch while attached to the phone and dinner is the same” Veronica rarely accompanies her husband on foreign trips The couple met in 1980, wed 10 years later and have three children in their 20s Mr Berlusconi has said he was smitten when he first saw the 24-year-old actress on stage. “I have answered the only question that anyone has the right to ask me: ‘Prime minister, have you had a, let’s say, spicy, or more than spicy, relationship with an underage girl?’ The response is: ‘Absolutely not,'” he said. “I am aware that, if this were perjury, I would have to resign a minute later.” The age of consent in Italy is 16, but people under 18 are considered minors.

The comments come a day after the leader of the opposition Democratic Party, Dario Franceschini, asked Italians at a European Parliament election rally: “Would you want your children brought up by this man?” The question provoked a furious response from Mr Berlusconi’s children, who have rarely made public statements in the past. “Angry?” asked Marina, his eldest daughter from his first marriage and chairman of publisher Mondadori, in an interview for Corriere della Sera. “I am indignant. Furious. No, this is enough. This time, I don’t intend to stay silent. My father has always worked a lot, but there has never been a time, a single time, in which I did not have him near when I needed him.” Her younger brother, Mediaset deputy chairman Pier Silvio, demanded to know how Mr Franceschini dared make such a “bad taste” remark. The premier’s three youngest children also said in a statement that they had been “brought up in a family atmosphere that was balanced and full of values”. “Politics should not turn to judging the role of a father, which has nothing to do with politics,” Barbara, Eleonora and Luigi said.

__________ Full article and photos: __________ See also: Berlusconi denies ‘steamy affair’ with teen Italian PM says he would have to resign if caught lying about relationship with 18-year-old, an explosive political issue. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, facing demands to explain his relationship with a teenage girl, denied he had a “steamy affair” and said he would have to resign if caught lying about it. The 72-year-old conservative leader’s relationship with an 18-year-old has become an explosive political issue after his wife Veronica demanded a divorce because of his womanizing and said he was “not well.” Mr. Berlusconi has denied any wrongdoing or lying in his apparently contradictory explanations of why he went to Noemi Letizia’s 18th birthday and gave her an expensive necklace. He has promised to explain it all in parliament but he has not set a date. He told reporters in Rome that if someone asked whether he had “a relationship, let’s say steamy or more than steamy, with an underage girl,” his answer would be: “Absolutely not.” “I have sworn it on the life of my children.

And I said that I am aware that, if this were perjury, I would have to resign a minute later,” said Mr. Berlusconi, who was elected for a third time last year and enjoys strong support in opinion polls. The flamboyant media magnate normally has the support of the Roman Catholic establishment in Italy, but it has criticized him for setting a bad example to the country’s young people with his behaviour and his very public second divorce. The age of consent for sex in Italy is 16 but people under 18 are considered minors. Ms. Letizia turned 18 last month and was photographed with Berlusconi at her birthday party, and at other social events last year when she was 17. The opposition has targeted Mr. Berlusconi’s behaviour ahead of European elections in June and centre-left leader Dario Franceschini, on the campaign trail, asked bambini-loving Italians: “Would you have your children raised by this man?” The comment proved too much for Mr. Berlusconi’s offspring. They rarely make public statements — they refused to take sides when Veronica asked for a divorce this month — but they reacted with fury to Mr. Franceschini’s remark. “Angry?

I am indignant. Furious. No, this is enough,” Marina, Mr. Berlusconi’s daughter from his first marriage and chairman of publisher Mondadori, which is part of Berlusconi’s business empire, told Corriere della Sera newspaper. “This time, I don’t intend to stay silent … My father has always worked a lot, but there has never been a time, a single time, in which I did not have him near when I needed him.” Son Pier Silvio, deputy chairman of the Berlusconi family broadcasting company Mediaset, demanded to know in a statement how the opposition leader dared make such a “bad taste” comment and said he shared his father’s values. Mr. Berlusconi’s three children with Veronica Lario also put out a statement saying they were “brought up in a family atmosphere that was balanced and full of values.” “Not everything can be put to an opinion poll. As for the question on whether a father is capable of raising a child, the only ones who can respond to that are the children themselves,” Barbara, Eleonora and Luigi Berlusconi said in the statement.

“Politics should not turn to judging the role of a father, which has nothing to do with politics.” __________ The battle of the Berlusconis Veronica Lario has referred to her husband as Italy’s Napoleon In Italy’s latest soap opera – Silvio Berlusconi’s divorce – former actress Mrs Berlusconi may well have landed one of the greatest roles of her life: as a role model to her Italian sisters. Mr Berlusconi has demanded that his wife apologise to him Fifty-two-year-old Veronica Lario – her former stage name – has shaken Italian society with her public criticism of Italy’s head of government, and the demand for a divorce from her partner of 29 years. For the long-suffering Mrs Berlusconi, revelations that her 72-year-old husband attended the birthday party of an 18-year-old lingerie model who calls him Papi – Daddy – was the latest in a series of public humiliations. Apart from one public outburst in 2007, she has remained silent about the PM’s behaviour. But enough is enough, she says. She recently denounced his behaviour, his political methods and a culture of machismo that she said offended women’s dignity.

“I can’t go on being with a man who consorts with minors… He is not well,” she said after his appearance at Noemi Letizia’s party in Naples. She also voiced her anger over plans by Mr Berlusconi’s coalition to line up several attractive young women for June’s European Parliament elections, describing the party’s list as “shamelessly trashy” and a “dangerous degradation of Italian politics”. Maria Laura Rodota, a commentator with Corriere della Sera’s popular online forum on pop culture and politics – in Italy, the two go hand-in-hand – says Mrs Berlusconi has “struck the most formidable and effective challenge to Berlusconi’s mystique to date”. But, she says, “it’s extraordinarily sad that it had to be his wife who denounced him and not a female politician or the leader of the opposition”. Defending Veronica The “Noemi and the Papi” episode together with the election affair have left many Italian women feeling uncomfortable. For once, the dividing lines between right and left have been blurred. Influential female intellectuals and commentators from across the political spectrum have rallied to Veronica’s defence – albeit on small comment-led newspaper, websites and TV programmes.

Even right-wing politician Alessandra Mussolini, grand-daughter of Il Duce, supported the PM’s wife, saying that Italian women had “emerged in a very bad light from this episode”. Ms Letizia sports the gold and diamond pendant given to her by the PM But there are few signs yet of the marital saga harming Mr Berlusconi politically. “Italians identify totally with him,” said Giuliano Ferrara, the editor of il Foglio Newspaper, which is partly owned by Veronica Lario. Mr Berlusconi controls much of the mainstream media, and since her public comments, the first lady has taken a battering in the press. Libero, for one, ran a 30-year-old picture of the former actress topless on stage under the headline: “Veronica Ungrateful Showgirl”. “She now must apologise for having embarrassed me,” proclaimed her husband in a charm offensive on national and foreign TV channels. His position, shared by many Italians, is that she should have kept quiet about the reasons of her divorce, as it was a private matter and not a political one.

Privacy issues The former cruise crooner, turned media tycoon, turned right-wing politician, has rewritten the rules of Italian politics over the past 15 years, blurring the lines between TV, showbiz and politics. Gender issues researcher Lorella Zanardo suggests that over his three mandates, Mr Berlusconi media interests have shaped a popular culture that distorts images of women. Mr and Mrs Berlusconi were not often seen out in public together But, while the media has fed Italians for years with gossip and reality TV intrusions into people’s privacy, most Italians think he should be granted total privacy when it comes to his own conduct. According to one recent poll, he still enjoys 66% popularity – even though the majority of Italians, 67%, defend Veronica Lario. However, another poll published this week on the La Repubblica website, suggested his rating had slipped three points since the controversy over Noemi began. Responsibility as a mother “Berlusconi’s media are now engaged in what appears to be a massive spin operation to divert attention, in order to bury the first lady’s serious criticisms and accusations,” says Corriere della Sera’s Ms Rodota.

“But… I record a growing, ebullient cross-party female indignation online. It might be a minority, but it is significant in a country which is ranked almost last in Europe, with Turkey, for the freedom of the press, and I think in the long term the ‘Noemi-gate’ will have political consequences.” Mrs Berlusconi – until now unanimously respected as an intelligent woman known for her discretion and liberal and anti-war views – said she was compelled to act because of her responsibility towards her three children. To the girls Barbara, 25, and Eleonora, 23, she wants “to show them that their mother can defend her dignity as a woman”, and to Luigi, 20, to teach him that “respect for women must be one of the most important values for a man”. Meanwhile, on social networking site Facebook, “Veronica for President” groups multiply. She appeared to speak for many of the 62% of Italians who did not vote for Mr Berlusconi, when she said: “I have come to wonder what kind of country we live in.

Through some strange alchemy, this country appears to forgive all and justify all for its new emperor.” Some commentators have noted that Mr Berlusconi’s party quietly dropped most of the attractive female candidates from its European list, after Mrs Berlusconi’s outburst. It may be a small victory, but it’s certainly seen by some as a symbolic one. __________ Full article and photos: __________ Silvio Berlusconi: Italy's once-untouchable prime minister - BBC News Silvio Berlusconi: Italy's once-untouchable prime minister 14 June 2016 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Berlusconi dominated Italian politics from the 1990s until 2013 Few Italians have wielded more influence and attracted more notoriety than Silvio Berlusconi, four-time prime minister and billionaire businessman. For years he successfully brushed off sex scandals and allegations of corruption but it was the effects of Italy's burgeoning eurozone debt crisis in 2011 that finally spelt an end to his time at the top table of politics. The charismatic showman was replaced by a technocrat and his centre-right party split.

Worse was to come for a man whom many Italians had come to see as untouchable. He was convicted of tax fraud in 2013 and ejected from the Italian Senate. Because of his age, a four-year jail term became a year of community service at a care home near Milan. Another conviction in 2015 and his political career was finally over. For years his looks belied his age, with a little help from hair transplants and plastic surgery. However, after a heart attack that his doctor said could have killed him, he has had heart surgery to replace a defective valve. From crooner to business mogul Berlusconi, 79, remains one of Italy's richest men. He and his family have built a fortune estimated at $6.6bn (£4.6bn; €6.6bn) by US business magazine Forbes . Born on 29 September 1936, Berlusconi lived through the war as a child. Like many Milan children, he was evacuated and lived with his mother in a village some distance from the city. He began his career selling vacuum cleaners and built a reputation as a crooner, first in nightclubs and then on cruise ships.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Berlusconi's children play a big role in running his business empire: daughter Barbara is vice-president of AC Milan "I had a repertoire of 150 different songs and I took requests from the audience," he told biographer Alan Friedman. He graduated in law in 1961 and then set up Edilnord, a construction company, establishing himself as a residential housing developer around his native Milan. Ten years later he launched a local cable-television outfit - Telemilano - which would grow into Italy's biggest media empire, Mediaset, controlling the country's three largest private TV stations. His huge Fininvest holding company now has Mediaset, Italy's largest publishing house Mondadori, daily newspaper Il Giornale, AC Milan football club and dozens of other companies under its umbrella. His children, Marina, Barbara, Pier Silvio, Eleonora and Luigi all take part in the running of his business empire. Rise and fall of Forza Italia In 1993, Berlusconi founded his own political party, Forza Italia (Go Italy), named after an Italian football chant.

The following year he became prime minister, heading a coalition with the right-wing National Alliance and Northern League. Many hoped his business acumen could help revitalise Italy's economy. They longed for a break with the corruption and instability which had marred Italian politics for a decade. Media captionSilvio Berlusconi was a major player in Italian politics for over 20 years But rivalries between the three coalition leaders, coupled with Berlusconi's indictment for alleged tax fraud by a Milan court, confounded those hopes and led to the collapse of the government seven months later. He lost the 1996 election to the left-wing Romano Prodi but by 2001 he was back in power, in coalition once more with his former partners. Having headed the longest-serving Italian government since World War Two, he was again defeated by Mr Prodi in 2006. He returned to office in 2008 at the helm of a revamped party, renamed the People of Freedom (PDL). His support drained away in 2011, as the country's borrowing costs rocketed at the height of the eurozone debt crisis, and he resigned after losing his parliamentary majority.

Image copyright AP Image caption He was once hit in the face by a man with psychiatric problems but stood defiantly in front of supporters Initially his party supported the technocratic government of Mario Monti and his reform programme. But in December 2012, his PDL withdrew its backing, forcing an early election. In February 2013, he showed he had not lost his touch when he closed a huge gap to come within 1% of winning a general election - close enough to play a part in the governing coalition. But after an uncomfortable period when the PDL backed Enrico Letta's government, the party split and Berlusconi relaunched it under the old name, Forza Italia . Opinion polls now place Forza Italia well behind the other big parties. Milanese courtroom dramas Much of Berlusconi's political career ran in tandem with a litany of legal battles. A native of Milan, he frequently complained of being victimised by its legal authorities. In 2009, he estimated that over 20 years he had made 2,500 court appearances in 106 trials, at a legal cost of €200m.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Berlusconi eventually carried out community service as part of his conviction for tax fraud He denied embezzlement, tax fraud and false accounting, and attempting to bribe a judge. And on numerous occasions he was acquitted, had convictions overturned or watched them expire under a statute of limitations. But he received a setback when in 2011 the Constitutional Court struck down part of a law granting him and other senior ministers temporary immunity. From now on it was up to individual trial judges to decide. By the end of the year he was out of power and in October 2012 he was given four years for tax fraud and barred from public office. But it was not until 1 August 2013 that Italy's supreme court upheld the verdict . Berlusconi declared his innocence and spoke of a "judicial coup". Because he was over 75, he did not go to jail but did community service, working four hours a week with elderly dementia patients at a Catholic care home near Milan.

The many trials of Berlusconi Berlusconi's women and bunga-bunga parties Berlusconi's struggles in the political arena and the courtroom have been accompanied by a string of lascivious reports about his private life. He met second wife Veronica Lario after she performed topless in a play. When he was photographed at the 18th birthday party of aspiring model Noemi Letizia, she decided to divorce him and also accused him of selecting a "shamelessly trashy" list of candidates for the European parliament. Image copyright AFP Image caption Both Silvio Berlusconi and Karima El Mahroug denied they had sex But his reputation was tarnished most by allegations of raunchy "bunga-bunga" parties at his private villa attended by showgirls. The reports culminated in a conviction of paying for sex with an underage prostitute. In October 2010, it emerged that Silvio Berlusconi had called a police station asking for the release of a 17-year-old girl, Karima "Ruby" El Mahroug. She was being held for theft and was also said to have attended his "bunga-bunga" parties.

In June 2013 he was found guilty of paying her for sex, and of abuse of power. The case was eventually overturned in 2014 . Berlusconi has always maintained he is "no saint" but firmly denies having ever paid for sex with a woman, saying: "I never understood where the satisfaction is when you're missing the pleasure of conquest." His turn of phrase has always delighted like-thinkers and horrified critics. In one of his most recent examples , he said his family was so persecuted they felt "like the families of Jews... under Hitler's regime". The remark drew condemnation from Italian Jews. In December 2009, he was assaulted in a street in Milan - hit in the face with a souvenir of Milan cathedral, by a mentally disturbed man. With a bloodied face and broken teeth, he got out of the car into which he had been bundled by security guards to show his defiance.

The media battle of Berlusconi's life | Anna Masera | Opinion | The Guardian The media battle of Berlusconi's life The divorce won't be pretty, and Silvio Berlusconi – or Napoleon, to his estranged wife – is unlikely to reach his Waterloo Wednesday 6 May 2009 04.00 EDT First published on Wednesday 6 May 2009 04.00 EDT Share on Messenger Close Napoleon, as Silvio Berlusconi's wife baptised him , is bracing himself for the battle of his life. Italy's premier is angry, but alive and kicking – not just to fight his wife Veronica Lario in court after her request for divorce this weekend, but against the media circus all over the world. What worries him most is that his popularity is at risk. There aren't any official poll results, on which Berlusconi is used to relying on heavily, but the first signals are negative and his aides are in a bit of a panic, Ugo Magri of La Stampa reports . They worry that his magic show might be over. As his wife puts it, he is "like Napoleon". It's Veronica's show now.

A month ahead of the European elections (as well as the administrative vote, and the constitutional referendum), the timing for such a scandal couldn't be worse. The Italian public is passionate about Veronica, and her rebellion against her husband is subjectto widespread gossiping. The accusation that Berlusconi "cavorts with minors" is more exciting than a soap opera, or even one of those reality shows that Berlusconi's TV channels cherish so much. The opposition leader, Dario Franceschini of the Democratic party, keeps saying that he doesn't want to profit politically from such personal issues, but of course, he does. Antonio Di Pietro's Italia dei Valori is reviewing the penal code, and the Catholic left is, of course, morally indignated. Worse than the opposition, however, is the circus: correspondents from all over the world are flocking to Italy not for the earthquake aftermath, not for the historic multinational car industry acquisitions by Fiat, but to entertain their public with the latest by Silvio. With the G8 summit at the doors of L'Aquila, no wonder Berlusconi — who wants to have a leading role with world leaders, but risks ridicule instead – is anguished.

He also hopes to beat his personal record at the European elections: in 1999 he received 3 million preferences; this time he wants to reach four million in order to be able to clear the way for reforms, starting from the constitutional one. May all this be in vain, all because of Veronica? In an interview with Mario Calabresi , the new editor-in-chief of La Stampa, Berlusconi denied that his private life will influence politics. However, in private talks reported later, he admits, "This story may make me lose votes," while adding, over and over, "I didn't do anything regrettable." This week he was reunited with his faithful aides at his villa in Arcore, with a Dutch television troupe at the gate. His defence strategy is in the hands of Niccolò Ghedini and his sisters Ippolita and Nicoletta, both experts in marriage law. Veronica Lario's lawyer is Maria Cristina Morelli, who helped Beppino Englaro in the famed euthanasia battle for his daughter Eluana. Berlusconi is not worried about the financial aspects of the divorce, which will involve his five children.

He is worried about his image in politics, since he has relied on it so much so far, andthe reaction of the Catholic electorate behind the church , an important political ally so far. It is so far keeping quiet on the sex scandals, but this is the second divorce for Berlusconi, difficult even for a befriended clergy to swallow. Advisers have tried to convince him to stay away from television, while the gossip is becoming ever more irresistible, but Berlusconiannounced an appearance on Tuesday evening on the most watched national talk show, Porta a Porta on Rai Uno, to be interviewed by Bruno Vespa, known to be a friendly journalist. With a huge audience guaranteed, Berlusconi's performance will be crawled over for days by both left and right. Napoleon is braced for the battle of his life. This might not yet be his Waterloo, but it could represent his retreat from Moscow.

Question: Veronica Lario was much in the news as the angry wife of which womanising European leader?
Answer: Silvio Berlusconi