Veronica Lario, the wife of the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is to ask for a divorce after a series of public disputes with her husband over the close attention he pays to younger women.
Italian media reported that Lario, 52, had contacted a lawyer to start divorce proceedings against Berlusconi, 72, whom she married in 1990.
Last week, Lario fired off an angry letter to a local news agency, Ansa, describing as "shameless rubbish" Berlusconi's reported plan to select a series of young women, including a Big Brother contestant, as candidates for the European parliament.
She also criticised her husband's decision to spend a night at a Naples disco celebrating the birthday of an 18-year-old, Noemi Letizia.
A source close to Lario confirmed the contents of a report in today's La Repubblica, which quoted Lario as stating: "I cannot stay with a man who frequents minors."
Berlusconi publicly asked Lario for forgiveness in 2007 after she wrote to an Italian newspaper complaining about his flirting with a TV showgirl at an awards ceremony. After last week's outburst, Berlusconi did not back down, claiming Lario had been swayed by misleading press reports.
Lario, a former actor whose real name is Miriam Raffaella Bartolini, was courted by Berlusconi after he saw her appear topless in a Milan theatre production in 1980. At the time, Berlusconi was married to his first wife, with whom he had two children. Lario and Berlusconi have three children.
La Repubblica reported that Lario had discussed her decision to divorce with her children. "I am convinced that at this point it would be more dignified to stop here," the newspaper quoted her saying.
Niccolò Ghedini, a lawyer for Berlusconi, said today the prime minister was not making a statement. "All affairs of this kind are personal and painful," he told Corriere della Sera.
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