Italian ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi honoured with state funeral in Milan

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been honoured with a state funeral in Milan (Stefano Porta/LaPresse/AP)

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was honoured with a state funeral in Milan on Wednesday, a day of national mourning, as his legacy – positive or negative – was being hotly debated among the people.

A crowd of tens of thousands of people erupted in applause as his flower-draped coffin was taken out of the hearse and carried into the city’s Duomo cathedral.