Berlusconi leaves ‘shocked’ lover, 34, for younger woman
Silvio Berlusconi has ended his decadelong relationship with a woman 49 years his junior after he was pictured leaving a Swiss hotel with a younger woman, an MP in his party.
The former Italian prime minister, 83, said he was no longer involved with Francesca Pascale, 34, but that they still enjoyed a ‘‘true, affectionate and deep friendship’’. That appeared to be news to Pascale, who said that she was ‘‘shocked’’ by the announcement, but wished him well. ‘‘I hope he can find a person who can look after him as well as I did,’’ she said.
He was photographed with Marta Fascina, 30, a little known Forza Italia MP.
Berlusconi’s romantic exploits filled pages of Italian newspapers, providing a distraction to the coronavirus outbreak and reminding Italians of the years in which his ‘‘bunga bunga’’ parties dominated the headlines.
He was acquitted in court after being accused of paying the 17-year-old dancer Karima El Mahroug, known as Ruby the Heartstealer, for sex but is still on trial for bribing female guests to lie in court about his parties, which allegedly involved topless pole dancing.
His preference for the company of younger women drove Berlusconi’s wife to leave him in 2009, two years before he resigned as prime minister amid sex scandals and tax investigations.
Pascale won the affections of the newly single Berlusconi at the time and publicly expressed her desire to marry him but was denied a wedding.
Nevertheless, she stuck with him through his years in opposition and his community service after a tax fraud conviction.
She moved into a house that Berlusconi bought for her near his villa outside Milan and encouraged him to take care of Dudu, her white Maltese terrier.
Dudu appeared to encourage a love of animals in Berlusconi, who was photographed feeding, caressing and kissing a young lamb in 2017 as he targeted the votes of elderly pet owners.
Tension surfaced between the two in December when she backed the Sardines, a grassroots Italian movement opposed to Matteo Salvini, a political ally of Berlusconi.
Then, this year, she admitted that Fascina was spending a lot of time holding political consultations with him at his villa.
That was followed by the publication in a gossip magazine of the photographs of Berlusconi and Fascina leaving a Swiss resort. Perhaps worst of all for Pascale, the couple were walking Dudu.
‘‘It amuses me to see a member of parliament take my dog for a walk. But that’s fine by me,’’ Pascale said. – The Times