Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been diagnosed with leukaemia less than 24 hours after being admitted in to intensive care.
Concerns grew for the 86-year-old’s health after his spokesman confirmed that he had been forced back to Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital yesterday, just days after being discharged.
The billionaire media tycoon, who is in a relationship with 33-year-old Forza Italia MP Marta Fascina, was being treated in intensive care in the cardiac unit of the hospital after suffering from breathing problems.
Sources close to the leader of the Right-wing Forza Italia party have now confirmed that Berlusconi, who has suffered repeated bouts of illness in recent years, has leukaemia – a blood cancer leading to the over-production of abnormal white blood cells.
‘I spoke this morning with Professor Zangrillo [Berlusconi’s personal doctor] and he told me that Berlusconi spent a quiet night, his condition is stable,’ Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani told RAI state television.
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (pictured) has been diagnosed with leukaemia less than 24 hours after being admitted in to intensive care
Berlusconi, 86, is in a relationship with 33-year-old Forza Italia MP Marta Fascina (pictured together in September)
Berlusconi has previously overcome prostate cancer, which he described as ‘a nightmare lasting months’.
However, it was his battle with Covid in 2020 which he described as the ‘most dangerous challenge’ of his life.
The three-time prime minister of Italy, who has been embroiled in several scandals – most notably around his notorious ‘bunga bunga’ parties – was admitted to hospital with a minor heart problem after fainting in 2006, and underwent heart surgery in a US hospital in January 2007.
The former AC Milan owner, who also had major heart surgery in 2016 to replace an aortic valve, has had a pacemaker for several years.
He was hospitalised again for a reported urinary tract infection in January 2022.
As Berlusconi’s younger brother Paolo left hospital last night, he told reporters: ‘He’s a rock, so he is going to make it this time as well.’
After being discharged from hospital for a previous issue on March 30, Berlusconi seemed to be back to health, as he thanked ‘all those who wanted to send a thought or sign of affection in these days’ on social media.
He said he was already back at work ‘ready and determined to commit myself as I’ve always done to the country I love.’
Berlusconi was admitted to intensive care at Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital (pictured) yesterday, days after being discharged from the same hospital
Berlusconi (pictured in 1980) has suffered repeated bouts of illness in recent years after contracting Covid in 2020
Berlusconi won a seat in Italy’s Senate during general elections in September following years of scandals
Berlusconi, who won a seat in Italy’s Senate during general elections in September, has stirred controversy in recent months with his criticism of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenksy, putting him at odds with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The billionaire, whose Forza Italia party is part of the ruling government coalition, was accused – but acquitted this year – 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.
Berlusconi, who has five children, was temporarily banned from political office after a conviction for tax fraud in 2013, for which he served a community sentence.
He then returned to the political front lines and was re-elected as a senator last year.
The media mogul, who first entered politics in 1994, does not currently have a role in government.
