Please forgive me, pleads Berlusconi in apology to wife

FORMER Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi issued a public apology to his wife yesterday after she learned through the press of his verbal dalliance with a pretty young lawmaker.

“Please forgive me, and take this public testimony ... as an act of love, one among many,” he said after Veronica Lario wrote a letter to La Repubblica newspaper demanding his contrition, which she said he had failed to show in private.

“Dear Veronica, here is my apology,” Italy’s richest man wrote in a letter carried by the ANSA news agency. “My days are crazy, as you know. Work, politics, problems, trips ... a life under constant pressure.”

Berlusconi, head of the country’s largest political party Forza Italia, was quoted as cooing to some women at a recent gala dinner: “I’d go anywhere with you” and “if I weren’t already married, I would marry you straight away”.

The media said Berlusconi’s quips were made to TV showgirl turned member of parliament Mara Carfagna and Venezuelan model and TV personality Aida Yespica.

Carfagna, 31, later responded that she would marry Berlusconi, but “only if he wasn’t married and my age”.

The 50-year-old Lario, Berlusconi’s second wife, wrote: “These are remarks that I interpret as hurting my dignity ... and that, given (Berlusconi’s) age, family context and political and social role, cannot be laughed off as simple pleasantries.”

Berlusconi, 70, replied: “Your dignity has nothing to do with all that, it’s a precious thing that I keep in my heart even when my mouth spouts thoughtless jokes. But believe me, marriage proposals, no, I never made any to anyone.”

The media magnate signed the letter: “A big kiss, Silvio.”

Veronica said she had always tried to avoid “conjugal conflict,” even when she had good reason. But Berlusconi had now left her little choice to break her silence, she said.

Beyond helping her daughters Barbara and Eleonora, she said standing up to Berlusconi publicly would also serve as a lesson to her son, Luigi, “to never forget to keep among his fundamental values respect for women”.

Berlusconi’s wife has often shied away from appearing with her famous husband in public.

Meanwhile, press reports said the women’s magazine “A” would publish an interview with Berlusconi on Thursday in which he reaffirms his love for his wife: “She is an exceptional woman. I went out of my mind over her. My passion is total, and she is a marvelous mother.”

Berlusconi, a cruise ship crooner in his younger days, is no stranger to verbal gaffes of all kinds, including sexist remarks.

In June 2005 he sparked a diplomatic incident when he said he had to use all his “talents as a playboy” to persuade Finnish President Tarja Halonen to drop a bid for Helsinki to host the European Food Security Authority in favour of Parma, Italy.