Lario breaks silence on marriage
(ANSA) - Rome, June 11 - The wife of Premier Silvio Berlusconi, Veronica Lario, on Thursday broke her silence over their public divorce spat to say that the truth about their relationship had ''not even been touched on''. Lario, 52, asked for a divorce last month after Berlusconi attended the 18th birthday party of aspiring model Noemi Letizia, telling Italian daily La Repubblica that she ''(could) not stay with a man who consorted with minors''. In a statement issued to another daily, Corriere della Sera, and printed on its first page Thursday, Lario said she had spent the last few weeks ''watching in silence, without reacting in the media, the brutal mudslinging against myself, my dignity and the history of my marriage''. ''It's certain that the truth about the relationship between me and my husband has not even been touched upon, just like the reason why I had to turn to the press in order to communicate with him,'' she said. ''Certainly, I have always loved him and I have built my life in terms of my marriage and my family''. Berlusconi, 72, has categorically denied any ''steamy or more than steamy'' involvement with teenagers, explaining there was nothing ''spicy'' about his attendance at the birthday party of the 18-year-old because he had a long friendship with her family. He also criticised his wife for slamming alleged plans to field pretty young women in the European Parliament elections, which Lario described as ''shamelessly trashy'', saying all the women were qualified for the job. As a direct result of the Letizia flap, the premier found himself mired further after paparazzo photographs of topless women at his villa in Sardinia emerged, and a scandal broke over allegedly improper use of publicly funded state flights to ferry guests to the villa. Right-wing politician Daniela Santanche' meanwhile alleged that Lario herself had a long relationship with her 47-year-old bodyguard, Alberto Orlandi. The allegations were published by right-wing daily Libero, which labelled actress Lario the ''ungrateful showgirl'' and published topless photos of her from early in her career. Lario has not commented on the allegations but friends have denied them. DIVORCE SPAT INFLUENCED PdL ELECTION SETBACK. Last month Berlusconi told Corriere he might file a counter-suit if Lario went ahead with plans to divorce him. Asked if his 19-year marriage to Lario could survive, he replied: ''I don't think so, and I don't know if I want it this time.
Veronica will have to publicly apologise to me, and I don't know if that will be enough''. ''It's the third time she's played a trick like this during an election campaign.
It's really too much'. Lario's statement Thursday came after observers fingered the divorce spat as one of the reasons Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PdL) party suffered a slight setback in the EP elections. The PdL won 35.3% of the vote which was an improvement over the 32.4% won by its two main components - Forza Italia and the National Alliance - in the last European elections but below the 37.4% of the vote which brought it to power last year and much less than Berlusconi's optimistic prediction of 45%. Berlusconi fell in love with actress Lario, his second wife, when he saw her performing topless in 1980 at a theatre he owned and divorced his first wife to marry her in 1990. The Berlusconis had another highly publicised spat two years ago when Lario demanded, and obtained, a public apology after he reportedly flirted with young women, one of whom is now his equal opportunities minister. In the latest incident, Lario accused him of insulting womens' dignity and making ''victims'' of his family. The premier has three children by Lario, aged 20, 22 and 24. His two children by his first wife play top roles in his business empire. Photo: Lario and Berlusconi.
It's really too much'. Lario's statement Thursday came after observers fingered the divorce spat as one of the reasons Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PdL) party suffered a slight setback in the EP elections. The PdL won 35.3% of the vote which was an improvement over the 32.4% won by its two main components - Forza Italia and the National Alliance - in the last European elections but below the 37.4% of the vote which brought it to power last year and much less than Berlusconi's optimistic prediction of 45%. Berlusconi fell in love with actress Lario, his second wife, when he saw her performing topless in 1980 at a theatre he owned and divorced his first wife to marry her in 1990. The Berlusconis had another highly publicised spat two years ago when Lario demanded, and obtained, a public apology after he reportedly flirted with young women, one of whom is now his equal opportunities minister. In the latest incident, Lario accused him of insulting womens' dignity and making ''victims'' of his family. The premier has three children by Lario, aged 20, 22 and 24. His two children by his first wife play top roles in his business empire. Photo: Lario and Berlusconi.