Italy bids farewell to former PM Berlusconi with state funeral

Devotees of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi have bidden him farewell in Milan at a state funeral for the billionaire, which closes a 30-year chapter in the country's history.

The coffin of the media mogul, adorned with white and red roses, was driven through the city from his villa in Arcore to the city's Gothic Duomo on Wednesday, with mourners clapping and waving along the route.

It was then carried into the cathedral, escorted by a guard of honour, as his family walked behind.

Thousands of the tycoon's supporters - including a delegation from his Monza football club - watched on giant screens set up in the square, as Archbishop Mario Delpini led the ceremony for Berlusconi, who died on Monday aged 86.

"When a man is a politician, then he tries to win. There are those who exalt him and those who cannot stand him," Delpini said in his homily. "When a man is a protagonist, then he is always on stage. He has those who applaud him and those who detest him," he said.

"But in this moment of farewell and prayer, what can we say about Silvio Berlusconi? He was a man: a desire for life, a desire for love, a desire for joy, " he added.

'Immortalise this mass phenomenon'

Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Meloni and fellow coalition partner Matteo Salvini, head of the far-right League, were at the funeral, while the European Union was represented by its economy commissioner Paolo Gentiloni.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was also present, along with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani and Iraqi President Abdel Latif Rashid.

The longest-serving premier in Italy's post-war history, and re-elected to the Senate last year, Berlusconi was dogged by multiple legal and sex scandals and famed for his controversial gaffes on the international stage.

He counted President Vladimir Putin among his friends - but the Russian leader is subject to an international arrest warrant and could not travel to Italy.

Amateur photographer Gianfranco Diletta, 65, said he had come to "immortalise this mass phenomenon".

Berlusconi's 33-year-old girlfriend, Marta Fascina, was joined in the front pews by one of Berlusconi's two ex-wives, and his five children, some of whom helped run his empire, recently estimated to be worth around $7 billion.

Berlusconi built a pharaoh-inspired marble mausoleum at his villa in Arcore, near Milan, to house his family and friends when they die. His family planned to cremate his remains and place his ashes in the mausoleum, Italian media reported.

National mourning day

Berlusconi, adored and loathed by Italians in equal measure, had been ill for several years, though he remained the official head of his right-wing Forza Italia party, a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition government.

Flags were lowered to half-mast on all public buildings from Monday in tribute to a leader whose influence extended well beyond politics, thanks to his extensive TV, newspaper and sporting interests.

Parliament was suspended for three days and the government declared a national day of mourning for Wednesday - the first time for an ex-prime minister.

The decision was criticised by Berlusconi's detractors, who accused him of cronyism, corruption and pushing through laws to protect his own interests.