Silvio Berlusconi’s young fiancée taking etiquette lessons while he pays $130,000 a day to his ex-wife
Giuseppe Cacacegiuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images
Francesca Pascale, 27, is engaged to former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, 76.
Fresh from divorce No. 2 — which
will see him paying more than $130,000 a day to ex-wife Veronica Lario —
Silvio Berlusconi, 76, is readying his latest fiancée to become his
third wife and Italy’s first lady.
Francesca Pascale, 27, a former showgirl, is reported to be taking etiquette courses, to have closed her Facebook profile, undergone minor plastic surgery and changed her phone number.
The news comes as the Italian election campaign heats up. Friday saw Mario Monti, former head of the caretaker Italian government, and Pietro Grasso, a respected anti-mafia prosecutor, throw their hats in the ring.
But Mr. Berlusconi was in the headlines for another reason: the Corriere della Sera newspaper revealed details of his divorce settlement with Ms. Lario, issued by a court in Milan on Christmas Day.
Judges awarded her €36-million ($47.3-million) a year in maintenance so she can continue to live in the manner to which she has become accustomed.
Mr. Berlusconi remains one of Italy’s richest men. In March, Forbes magazine estimated his wealth at almost $6-billion.
“She is relieved because the whole story was very painful,” a friend told the Financial Times. “They spent 30 years together, an entire life.”
“It is an amount that for us common mortals seems like a joke,” said Laura Laurenzi, a society journalist, according to The Daily Telegraph.
“Even €1,000 a day is a joke in these times of crisis, not to mention 100 times that.
However, the former actress failed in her bid to keep Villa
Belvedere, the $100-million estate near Milan where she and Mr.
Berlusconi had brought up their three children.
The judges deemed the property to be part of Mr. Berlusconi’s “patrimony.”
The couple was married for 22 years. Their romance began when Mr. Berlusconi, a three-times Italian prime minister, spotted her topless in 1980 during a play, The Magnificient Cuckold. They married after he divorced his first wife, Carla Dall’Oglio.
Ms. Lario, now 56, became increasingly disenchanted by her husband’s behaviour. In an open letter to the newspaper La Repubblica she said he had offended her as a woman. He was a sex addict who engaged in improper relations with minors, she wrote.
The couple reconciled, but this did not last.
The last straw was the media mogul’s relationship with Noemi Letizia, an underwear model, which became public after the prime minister attended her 18th birthday party.
Ms. Lario also called his plans to nominate former showgirls to become members of the European Parliament “shameless garbage.”
Mr. Berlusconi is currently on trial in Milan for having sex with another minor, Karima El Mahroug, a Moroccan prostitute, better known by her stage name, Ruby the Heartstealer.
Now, Ms. Pascale’s transformation has begun before the start of a campaign next month by Mr. Berlusconi to be elected prime minister for a fourth time.
It remains to be seen whether Italy’s mostly Roman Catholic voters, embarrassed by reports of his wild “bunga bunga” parties, are ready to embrace Ms. Pascale, who is 50 years his junior.
“Finally I feel less lonely,” Mr. Berlusconi said in announcing their engagement on television two weeks ago.
“I am engaged to a Neapolitan, it’s official.”
For the past year, Italy’s “first lady” has been Elsa Antonioli, wife of Mr. Monti, a reserved Red Cross volunteer and grandmother who rarely misses Mass.
National Post, with files from The Associated Press and news services
awordsworth@nationalpost.com
Francesca Pascale, 27, a former showgirl, is reported to be taking etiquette courses, to have closed her Facebook profile, undergone minor plastic surgery and changed her phone number.
The news comes as the Italian election campaign heats up. Friday saw Mario Monti, former head of the caretaker Italian government, and Pietro Grasso, a respected anti-mafia prosecutor, throw their hats in the ring.
But Mr. Berlusconi was in the headlines for another reason: the Corriere della Sera newspaper revealed details of his divorce settlement with Ms. Lario, issued by a court in Milan on Christmas Day.
Judges awarded her €36-million ($47.3-million) a year in maintenance so she can continue to live in the manner to which she has become accustomed.
Mr. Berlusconi remains one of Italy’s richest men. In March, Forbes magazine estimated his wealth at almost $6-billion.
“She is relieved because the whole story was very painful,” a friend told the Financial Times. “They spent 30 years together, an entire life.”
“It is an amount that for us common mortals seems like a joke,” said Laura Laurenzi, a society journalist, according to The Daily Telegraph.
“Even €1,000 a day is a joke in these times of crisis, not to mention 100 times that.
Susan Walsh/The Associated Press files Silvio
Berlusconi and his former wife Veronica Lario in 2004. A court recently
ordered him to pay her the equivalent of $47.3-million a year in
alimony.
The judges deemed the property to be part of Mr. Berlusconi’s “patrimony.”
The couple was married for 22 years. Their romance began when Mr. Berlusconi, a three-times Italian prime minister, spotted her topless in 1980 during a play, The Magnificient Cuckold. They married after he divorced his first wife, Carla Dall’Oglio.
Ms. Lario, now 56, became increasingly disenchanted by her husband’s behaviour. In an open letter to the newspaper La Repubblica she said he had offended her as a woman. He was a sex addict who engaged in improper relations with minors, she wrote.
The couple reconciled, but this did not last.
The last straw was the media mogul’s relationship with Noemi Letizia, an underwear model, which became public after the prime minister attended her 18th birthday party.
Giuseppe Cacacegiuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images Silvio Berlusconi with Francesca Pascale at an AC Milan match on Dec;. 4, 2012.
Mr. Berlusconi is currently on trial in Milan for having sex with another minor, Karima El Mahroug, a Moroccan prostitute, better known by her stage name, Ruby the Heartstealer.
Now, Ms. Pascale’s transformation has begun before the start of a campaign next month by Mr. Berlusconi to be elected prime minister for a fourth time.
It remains to be seen whether Italy’s mostly Roman Catholic voters, embarrassed by reports of his wild “bunga bunga” parties, are ready to embrace Ms. Pascale, who is 50 years his junior.
“Finally I feel less lonely,” Mr. Berlusconi said in announcing their engagement on television two weeks ago.
“I am engaged to a Neapolitan, it’s official.”
For the past year, Italy’s “first lady” has been Elsa Antonioli, wife of Mr. Monti, a reserved Red Cross volunteer and grandmother who rarely misses Mass.
National Post, with files from The Associated Press and news services
awordsworth@nationalpost.com
Labels: Celebrity, Child Abuse, culture, Human Relations, Italy
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