Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi refused to deny reports Sunday that his wife plans to file for divorce after finally running out of patience over his roving eye.
Hours after newspapers said Veronica Lario had contacted a divorce lawyer and was seeking a quick separation after nearly 30 years of marriage, Berlusconi, 72, issued a terse statement Sunday that appeared to give credence to the reports. “It is a personal affair that pains me. It is a private matter and I feel I must not speak about it,” he said, according to his office. Lario took the decision on Tuesday following reports that her husband went to the birthday party in Naples of an 18-year-old girl, according to Dario Cresto-Dina, the reporter who broke the news for La Repubblica newspaper. “In Veronica’s words, ‘this time he went beyond the limit, with this latest public humiliation. I want to close this chapter on this marriage,'” Cresto-Dina added. The couple married in 1980 and have three grown-up children. The 52-year-old Lario is a former actress and his second wife. The pair are rarely seen in public together.
