bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Reuters

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi lived in chaos, with hangers-on taking advantage of him, his girlfriend has revealed.
Francesca Pascale, 28, who is 49 years his junior, has divulged fresh details of their life together after appearing with him on the cover of Vanity Fair last month.
Pascale, who caught Berlusconi's eye when she founded a fan club called "We Miss You Silvio", said she discovered an "unacceptable" mess when she moved into the 77-year-old's mansion earlier this year.
"Many people were taking advantage of him," Pascale told the Italian weekly Oggi.
"I had to intervene. They were paying €80 (HK$840) a kilo for string beans. Can you believe it?
"Huge crates of fish were being delivered to the house when everyone knows the president doesn't eat fish. He even hates the smell."
Berlusconi's political future is in doubt due to a tax fraud conviction that could see him evicted from parliament. But press reports have told of how Pascale ruled Berlusconi's Rome residence with an iron fist.
"The truth is that I have my head screwed on, I say what I think, I sort things out and he likes it," said Pascale, who hopes to marry the media mogul once his divorce from second wife, Veronica Lario, is finalised.
The interviews appear to be in part aimed at changing Berlusconi's image, damaged by reports of "bunga bunga" sex parties and giving expensive gifts to a series of glamorous women.


How Fukuyama goes from the end of history to the end of the West

Meet Flavio Briatore, ‘Italy’s Donald Trump’ and Heidi Klum’s baby daddy: the controversial centimillionaire dated Naomi Campbell, discovered F1’s Fernando Alonso, and heads a political party

Italian PM Meloni likely to visit China this month, the reward of cautious diplomacy

How Luigi Berlusconi makes and spends his millions: former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi’s billionaire son inherited Fininvest shares from his dad, invests in start-ups and splurges on property

Berlusconi lived in chaos, says girlfriend Francesca Pascale