William Flew over Italy

AS his female guests stripped and performed erotic dances at one o f hi s “ bunga-bunga” parties, Silvio Berlusconi repeatedly urged them to undress two shocked 18-year-old models he had met only a few hours earlier. The pair say they were so scared they asked to leave.


An account by two Miss Italy contestants, Ambra Battilana and Chiara Danese, is one of the most graphic descriptions to emerge from two sex trials casting an embarrassing spotlight on what Berlusconi, 74, claims are elegant dinner parties at his Villa San Martino outside Milan.


The teenagers told prosecutors that Nicole Minetti, 26, the half-British former showgirl who is now a regional councillor for Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party, performed a naked pole-dance for him.


The pair said Berlusconi welcomed them on August 22 last year after they met Emilio Fede, 79, a newscaster and close friend of the prime minister. Battilana and Danese had asked to be weather girls on his programme.


The teenagers claimed the dozen fellow guests included Fede, Mariarosaria Rossi, 39, an MP in Berlusconi’s party, Licia Ronzulli, 35, an MEP, and several models and showgirls including Roberta Bonasia, 26, a former nurse and Miss Italy contestant who was introduced to them as the prime minister’s “girlfriend”.


When Berlusconi saw Battil an a and Danese , “ he was electrified and praised us a lot”, they said. His interest prompted a reprimand from Fede: “Hey, you eat what’s on your plate and I’ll eat what’s on mine.” This was a warning that Fede had his eye on Danese, Battilana explained.