貝盧斯科尼77歲離婚 將迎娶28歲女郎
Silvio Berlusconi is free to marry his 28-year-old fiancée after an Italian court finalised his divorce settlement, five years after his long-suffering wife announced that she could no longer tolerate his “consorting with minors”.
Francesca Pascale, 28, who is younger than some of the 77-year-old former prime minister’s children, has made no secret of the fact that she is determined to formalise their engagement and get married at the earliest opportunity.
In an interview with the Italian edition of Vanity Fair last year, she claimed that she had fallen for the media tycoon when she was a teenager, offering him her telephone number at a party rally.
“I chased him, I wooed him - I did everything. All he had to do was say ’yes’,” she said.
There is fevered speculation in Italy about when the wedding might be, and whether the happy couple might decide to start a family - notwithstanding Mr Berlusconi’s advanced age and the fact that a baby would complicate the division of the ex-premier’s huge personal fortune and extensive business empire.
He already has five grown-up children from two marriages - Miss Pascale would be his third wife if they decide to tie the knot.
The divorce between Mr Berlusconi and Veronica Lario, 57, whom he married in 1990, was handed down by a court in Monza in northern Italy.
The former actress, who first caught the politician’s eye in 1980 when she appeared topless in a stage performance of a play called The Magnificent Cuckold, announced that she was leaving him in 2009 after he attended the 18th birthday party of an aspiring lingerie model, amid questions as to the nature of their relationship.
Miss Lario said she could no longer bear to be married to a man who “consorted with minors”.
The court’s approval of the divorce does not, however, bring to an end the wrangling over how much alimony Mr Berlusconi should pay his ex-wife - the financial settlement is still to be worked out.
The court in Monza initially awarded Miss Lario three million euros (£2.5 million) a month but the amount was subsequently cut by more than half to 1.4 million euros a month after an appeal by the billionaire businessman last October.
Miss Lario in turn launched an appeal against that judgment, and a final ruling is expected in the coming months.
Although Mr Berlusconi was humiliatingly expelled from the Italian parliament late last year as a result of a conviction for tax fraud, he remains the leader of his revamped Forza Italia party.
He is still a force to be reckoned with on the Italian political scene - on Wednesday he held talks with Matteo Renzi, the 39-year-old leader of the centre-Left who is poised to become Italy’s youngest ever prime minister.
Mr Berlusconi’s party will not be part of the coalition, but the two men discussed reforms to Italy’s electoral system.
The three-time prime minister said he would be part of a “responsible” opposition.
”We too are in favour of rejuvenating the government,” Mr Berlusconi said. “Today I met a premier who’s half my age - a good sign for the renewal of the ruling class.”
In April Mr Berlusconi is due to start serving a year’s sentence for his tax fraud conviction, either performing social services or under house arrest.
He is also appealing a conviction for paying for sex with an underage prostitute at the “bunga bunga” parties held in his villa in Milan, and went on trial last week accused of paying a three million euro bribe to a senator in exchange for his defection from the Left.據英國《每日電訊報》2月19日報道，前意大利總理貝盧斯科尼獲法院批准與前妻拉里奧離婚，從而可以自由地迎娶28歲的未婚妻帕斯卡爾，兩人的婚期業已成爲意大利人熱議的話題。
儘管28歲的帕斯卡爾比這位77歲的前總理的某些孩子還要年輕，她還是毫不隱瞞她已決意與貝盧斯科尼正式訂婚，並將儘早完婚。去年，在接受意大利版《名利場》記者採訪時，她曾宣稱，自己十幾歲就迷上了這位媒體大亨，有意在一次集會時給他留了電話號碼，使勁渾身解數辦法吸引他，最終成功地將他俘虜。
意大利人現在正狂熱地猜測他們何時舉行婚禮，以及兩人是否決定生兒育女。貝盧斯科尼年事已高，前兩次婚姻已經給他留下了5個成年孩子。如果他們決定結婚，帕斯卡爾將成爲他的第三任妻子，如果兩人再有孩子，其鉅額私人財產和龐大商業帝國的分配將更加複雜化。
此外，離婚並未結束有關貝盧斯科尼應該支付前妻多少生活費的爭論。法院起初判給拉里奧生活費每月300萬歐元，但是去年10月，因爲這位億萬富翁提出上訴，這筆錢被腰斬，減少一半，至140萬歐元。隨後，拉里奧也提出上訴。最終裁決將在今後幾個月確定。
1980年，拉里奧在裸胸表演一部舞臺劇時，吸引了貝盧斯科尼的目光。1990年兩人結婚。2009年，貝盧斯科尼爲18歲的內衣模特慶生，拉里奧忍無可忍，宣佈要與之離婚。五年後，意大利北部城市蒙扎法院終於批准了她的離婚申請。
