Ex-Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, 86, is in intensive care after suffering heart problems
- The 86-year-old media mogul was only discharged from hospital last week
- Former PM has been embroiled in scandals including ‘bunga bunga’ parties
- This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, 86, is in intensive care after suffering from heart problems, a member of his entourage has revealed.
The 86-year-old media mogul, who has been in and out of the hospital in recent years, is currently in Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital.
Italian news agency Ansa said the Forza Italia party leader was admitted this morning and his current condition was ‘stable’.
Berlusconi, who is in a relationship with 33-year-old Forza Italia MP Marta Fascina, has suffered repeated bouts of illness in recent years after contracting Covid in 2020 and had only been discharged from hospital last week.
The four-time prime minister also had major heart surgery in 2016 and has suffered with prostate cancer.
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (pictured), 86, is in intensive care after suffering with heart problems
The media tycoon is in a relationship with 33-year-old Marta Fascina – who is 53 years younger than him
Berlusconi (pictured in 1980) has suffered repeated bouts of illness in recent years after contracting Covid in 2020
Berlusconi, whose Forza Italia party is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s governing coalition, is famed for having been embroiled in sex scandals, most notably for throwing infamous ‘bunga bunga’ parties at his villa during his time in office.
He was accused – but later acquitted – of paying young starlets and others for ‘silence and lies’ about his notoriously hedonistic soirees, which he has always insisted were elegant dinners.
The verdict was the culmination of a legal battle which began in 2010 when Berlusconi – then prime minister – was accused of abusing his power to protect a young Moroccan nightclub dancer, Karima El-Mahroug.
Known by her stage name ‘Ruby the Heart Stealer’, she had been detained by police for theft, but was released after Berlusconi claimed she was the niece of then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Berlusconi was charged with paying for sex with Ruby in 2010 when she was just 17.
He was initially found guilty, but acquitted in 2014 after an appeals court found there was no proof he knew El-Mahroug was a minor.
More to follow.
