Italy said goodbye to Berlusconi with honors

On Wednesday, Italy said goodbye to Silvio Berlusconi, three-time prime minister and media and football magnate. national mourning and a state funeral with honors of the army in Milan’s cathedral, broadcast live on public television and which had around 2,000 guests, including European and national politicians – allies and opponents -, businessmen, representatives of constitutional bodies and the branching dynasty of the former Cavaliere and his last girlfriend, Marta Fascino.

The coffin, made of wood and covered with white and red flowers, was driven across the entire city by car, and at the foot of the temple it was met by its Five sonsMarina, Pier Silvio, Barbara, Eleonora and Luigi, and Marta Fascina, who she cried inconsolably. He then passed into the interior of the cathedral accompanied by six policemen in gala attire and receiving the honors of the sway of the Army, Navy and Military Aeronautics.

Upon his arrival, he drew applause thousands of his followers gathered in Piazza del Duomo, outside, despite the sun of justice that reigns in the city. Also from numerous fans of his football club, AC Milan, with which he won numerous trophies, including five Champions Leagues, and which he sold in 2017.

The funeral was attended by head of state Sergio Mattarella and senior government staff, such as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Vice President Matteo Salvini of the far-right League and Antonio Tajani, Berlusconi’s right-hand man within the Force Italy party.

Orbán, among European authorities

Among those present are his friend, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and President of the European People’s Party Manfred Weber. The Kremlin assures that he did not receive an invitation to attend the funeral, despite the fact that Vladimir Putin considered him a “true friend”.

Berlusconi’s body will be cremated after the liturgy and his ashes He will rest in the chapel of his villa, according to local media.

The Berlusconi dynasty

All attention was focused on Martha fascinates53 years younger than the former Cavaliera, whom he “symbolically” married in March 2022, in a ceremony without legal value, but which served to seal his relationship with the last woman in his life, who followed him to the end.

The “widow”, supported throughout by her parents Orazio and Angela della Morte, was surrounded by the magnate’s children and seen crying sitting a few meters from the coffin, which was on the ground in front of the altar and on which was a center of white and red flowers and his photograph.

He was accompanied by the tycoon’s descendants: the eldest daughter Marina, president of the family holding company Fininvest, and her younger brother, Pier Silvio, head of the Mediaset television emporium, both the result of his first marriage to Carla Dall’Oglio.

It could also be seen in Milan’s cathedral Barbara, Eleonora and Luigi, the other three children – generally more discreet – that he had with the actress Veronika Lariofrom whom he divorced in 2009.

Berlusconi and Lario actually kept a a long legal battle after the judge determined that he should compensate her with a pension of 3 million euros per month after the separation, the sentence was changed a decade later.

The three-time prime minister, who died of leukemia at the age of 86, left a large family behindn fifteen grandchildren and one great-granddaughter, little Olivia, born in December 2021.

The five children of the former prime minister, who died this Monday at the age of 86 from chronic leukemia, wanted to publicly say goodbye to their father with an emotional message published this Wednesday in the main state newspaper. “Dear dad, thank you for life, Thank you for your love. You will always live in us,” reads the text, with the tycoon from a few years ago smiling, in a button-down jacket and a classic blue polka-dot tie.

his first wife Carla Dall’Oglio, from whom he divorced in 1985, a decade before he entered politics, also dedicated a sincere message of condolence to him in the newspaper: «Dear Silvio, you were a great man and an extraordinary father to our children. I will always remember the beauty of the years we spent together. An endless hug”.

The heirs will now have to manage now anda huge heritage which the tycoon acquired in his lifetime, and is estimated at more than 6,000 million euros in companies that are part of his Fininvest holding, such as Mediaset television or Monza football club, in addition to numerous properties and villas throughout the country.

Ciao President by Ruby

He was also given the memory of one of the women who most influenced his long life, Karima Marhroug, also known as Ruby Heartstealer, of a young Moroccan with whom he had sexual relations when he was a minor, and this represented a judicial odyssey for the tycoon until his acquittal at the Supreme Court in 2019. “Hello President”, The girl wrote on her social networks, accompanying the message with a black background and a broken heart icon.

These days, he received numerous messages of condolence from his followers, who consider him a political, business, and sports idol, since he was the owner of Milan and then Monza until the sale in 2017.

The long shadow of the deceased

A state funeral and national mourning, followed live on Italian public television, closes the era of Berlusconi, the charismatic politician who rose in 1994 after the collapse of the Second Republic, a post-war political system eroded by corruption. But at the same time, he opens an uncertain page about his business and political empire.

In the first place, the future a huge assets of more than 6000 million euros among Fininvest companies, such as Mediaset television or Monza football club, as well as numerous properties and villas throughout the country.

But his long shadow will continue to mark a certain compass in national politics because no one knows what will become of his party.Forza Italywith whom he convinced 8% of Italians in the general election last year and who has remained an orphan until today as a leader.

The formation is not experiencing the best moments, in fact it has lost a huge influence recently, but its stability is important to Meloni.

Perhaps for this reason, as soon as his death was known, the Prime Minister hastened to promise that her government would survive, that it would achieve the goals it had set for itself with old Silvio, always with his thoughts in power, until his last breath.