The Italian Prime Minister began courting Lario after seeing her perform topless in a Milan theater in 1980. By the time they wed 10 years later, he had divorced his first wife and Lario had given him three children. But in May, Europe's longest-suffering First Lady filed for divorce after it emerged that Berlusconi, 73, had attended the 18th birthday party of a lingerie model who calls him papi. "I cannot stay with a man who frequents minors," Lario wrote in a letter to left-leaning newspaper La Repubblica. Lario, 53, also criticized her husband's reported attempts to send showgirls to the European Parliament and claimed that he had missed their two sons' 18th birthday parties. It promises to be an ugly divorce. Lario demanded maintenance payments of $65 million a year; Berlusconi, whose media empire is estimated at $13 billion, reportedly offered her about $4.5 million. She's got fresh fuel for her case. On Nov. 24, a 42-year-old escort published a memoir describing her alleged dalliances with Berlusconi titled Enjoy, Prime Minister.
The Top 10 Everything of 2009
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Art Exhibitions
- Top 10 Awkward Moments
- Top 10 Best Business Deals
- Top 10 Breakups
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Children's Books
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Editorial Cartoons
- Top 10 Facebook Stories
- Top 10 Fashion Faux Pas
- Top 10 Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Ideas
- Top 10 Heroes
- Top 10 iPhone Apps
- Top 10 Late-Night Jokes
- Top 10 Magazine Covers
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Movies
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 News Stories
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Oddball News Stories
- Top 10 Pariahs
- Top 10 Pictures of the Year
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Scientific Discoveries
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 T-Shirt-Worthy Slogans
- Top 10 TV Ads
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Tweets
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 Untruths
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Viral Videos
- Top 10 Worst Biz Deals
TIME charts the highs and lows of the past year in 50 wide-ranging lists