How Silvio Berlusconi tied the knot to MP Marta Fascina during €400,000 ‘symbolic wedding’

The death of Italy’s controversial former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi will have left his loved ones devastated – and no one more than his young girlfriend, who he ‘married’ in a ‘symbolic wedding’ last year. 

The billionaire businessman, 86, who created Italy’s largest media company before transforming the country’s political landscape, is understood to have passed away over the weekend. 

Berlusconi’s health markedly deteriorated in recent years, with open-heart surgery in 2016 and numerous hospital admissions since contracting Covid-19 three years ago.

Despite this, he enjoyed a healthy love life, and threw a ‘festival of love’ at a historic property called Villa Gernetto in the town of Lesmo, north of Milan last year with Marta Fascina, estimated to have cost at least €400,000. 

It was far from the first big romance of his life, after he married Veronica Lario in 1990 – but the two underwent a high-profile divorce in 2012 which saw him agree to pay her $48million a year. 

Rumours of friendship between the former Italian PM and Ms Fascina surfaced in 2020 when his long-term girlfriend Francesca Pascale admitted the 32-year-old MP was spending time at his villa in Milan. 

The closeness was quickly dismissed as business, with Ms Fascina seeking the advice from the statesmen of the Forza Italia party and holding political discussions.

But that pretence was blown out of the water when she was then photographed leaving a luxury Swiss resort with Berlusconi.

In the photographs, the pair were seen walking a Maltese dog called Dudu who belongs to Ms Pascale.

It then emerged the pair had started dating at the start of 2020 after she won his affections by sending a series of letters that entranced him so much that he dumped his long-term girlfriend after 12 years. 

Ms Pascale, who once said in an interview that she asked Berlusconi to marry her every day, appeared to have been caught off guard, saying she was ‘astonished’ by the statement, according to the daily Repubblica.

‘I will hold him dear forever. I wish him all the happiness in the world and hope he finds someone who will take care of him as I have,’ said the blonde, who first caught Berlusconi’s eye when she founded a fan club for him. 

Ms Fascina, who reportedly has the billionaire’s initials tattooed on her body, has long championed the political party set up by Berlusconi in the Nineties and has known him since her days working for AC Milan football club.

Her Instagram page boasts pictures of the young MP smartly dressed in parliament and perched in a two-piece skirt suit in a military helicopter, as well as a more sultry image of her posing in front of the camera.

Reflecting on the 53-year age gap between Ms Fascina and Berlusconi as they began their relationship, one political rival sniped: ‘If she is looking to make a name for herself, then she has done that. 

‘What is it that a 30-year-old woman sees in an 83-year-old man?’

As a newcomer to the volatile world of Italian politics, she was entwined with Berlusconi whose own 20-year career ended in disgrace over ‘bunga bunga’ sex parties involving underage girls.

Born in a coastal city on the toe of southern Italy, Ms Fascina graduated with a degree in Literature and Philosophy from Rome’s Sapienza University and began working for AC Milan football club as a press officer.

At the time, it was owned by Berlusconi and she would have come into regular contact with him.

She became a super fan of the top Italian team – and of its owner – and it was around this time that she reportedly had the initials ‘SB’ tattooed on her, according to Italian newspaper Il Messaggero.

She began her political career by writing a series of supportive articles for a newspaper backing Forza Italia, the party started by Berlusconi in 1994 when he was first elected prime minister.

But it wasn’t until four years ago that she was elected deputy in the Campania 1 district.

Colleagues described her as a ‘simple but cute’ presence in the Italian Parliament.

She rarely voted and did not seek to make any intervention in political matters being discussed.

The couple enjoyed a lavish ‘festival of love’ at a historic property called Villa Gernetto in the town of Lesmo, north of Milan last year.

Fans were given a glimpse of the event online as friends and family offered behind-the-scenes look at the lavish nuptials on Instagram. 

The event may have looked very much like a wedding, but the couple were not officially married because of an inheritance row between the families. 

Berlusconi’s five adult children were believed to be outraged at their father’s intention to marry Marta, which would have given her a claim to his fortune of over £5 billion. 

According to the Italian press, Marta was ‘offended and very angry about not having a proper wedding.’

Despite the fact it wasn’t an official ceremony, Marta looked every bit the blushing bride, donning a floor length white Antonio Riva gown crafted from French lace with a train 3.5m long and sweeping her long blonde locks into a high bun for the occasion. 

Luxury wedding planner Illy Goodall estimated the dress along could have cost the couple up to £16,000 (€20,000). Meanwhile Silvio opted for a smart blue Armani suit. 

Later, guests were invited to join the couple for lunch, prepared by the Da Vittorio restaurant, enjoying veal mondeghili with lemon, ricotta gnocchi and potatoes with saffron and paccheri ‘alla Vittorio’ as well as sliced ​​beef in red wine with dark potato and cinnamon flavored carrot cream.  

‘I’d say a total budget of around £335,000 (€400,000) depending on which brand the watch favours are,’ Illy told FEMAIL. 

According to Vanity Fair, the groom’s brother Paolo and his children of Cavaliere Marina , Barbara , Eleonora and Luigi were in attendance, while his second son Pier Silvio was absent.

His absence was reportedly because he prefered to keep away from crowds for fear of catching Covid.

But while Silvio’s wedding party had some notable absences, the 60 person guestlist was filled with relatives of Marta and then Berlusconi’s friends and historical allies, including politicians Matteo Salvini and Marcello Dell’Utri.   

Vittorio Sgarbi, the MP and art critic told The Times:  ‘Although there was no priest or public official, it was like a real wedding. Berlusconi was full of happiness as he told Marta she was ‘a gift from the heavens’.’  

Seemingly undeterred by health woes, sex scandals and advanced age, Berlusconi proceeded with the ceremony alongside his girlfriend, which was styled as a ‘festival of love’ rather than an official union. 

Snaps online revealed how guests were serenaded by Berlusconi during the ceremony, who performed while a friend played the piano, before being gifted scarves for women, ties and watches for the men. 

According to reports, he told Marta: ‘You complete me, I couldn’t live without you, you fill my life.’ 

Meanwhile attendees dined on tables lined with baby blue and white flowers, with catering provided by Vittorio, a famous local restaurant offering 16-course meals which cost as much as €330 (£277) per head. 

Berlusconi was previously married to Veronica Lario (born Miriam Bartolini), with whom he had three children: Barbara, Eleonora and Luigi.

The media tycoon split from his long suffering wife after it was revealed he had attended the 18th birthday party of a glamorous lingerie model. 

Though Berlusconi’s penchant for younger girlfriends was evident, he was also the subject of several sex scandals with prostitutes.

The former PM was previously convicted of paying £6 million to underage Moroccan prostitute Karima El Mahroug, also known as ‘Ruby the heart-stealer’, for sexual services between February and May 2010, but was later found not guilty on appeal. 

El Mahroug was reportedly an attendee of one of Berlusconi’s many ‘bunga bunga’ sex parties held at his private villa. 

Besides his reputation for ‘bunga bunga’ parties, Berlusconi was temporarily barred from public office after a conviction for tax fraud in 2013, and has been accused of several cases of embezzlement. 

The media mogul also battled a string of health issues in the past two decades.

In late 2006 he was admitted to hospital with a minor heart problem after fainting, and underwent heart surgery in a US hospital in January 2007.

He later had major heart surgery in 2016 and has also survived prostate cancer, which he revealed in 2000 after having endured the disease for three years.

At the time he described his cancer ordeal as ‘a nightmare lasting months’, but said his battle with coronavirus in September 2020 had been the ‘most dangerous challenge’ of his life.