Veronica Lario: 12 Unknown Facts About Silvio Berlusconi’s Ex-Wife

The stunning Veronica Lario is a talented actress who came into limelight after she met and married Silvio Berlusconi, the former owner of A C Milan. Being an actress, Veronica had already appeared in some popular movies and stage alongside well-established actors. After she got together with Berlusconi, she quit acting altogether to concentrate on building a family with him.

Her twenty-five years marriage to Berlusconi was plagued with several public unpleasant outbursts before they finally went their separate ways in 2009.

Who is Veronica Lario?

Born Miriam Raffaella Bartolini on the 19th of July 1956 in Bologna, Italy, Veronica Lario later changed her name to what it is today due to her acting career and has gone by that name ever since. She was birthed into the family of Vladimiro Capponi and Flora Bartolini.

Veronica started her acting career on the stage. She worked with Enrico Maria Salemo and appeared alongside other popular actors in works like Tenebrae (1982), Sotto… Sotto (1984), and Bel Ami (1979) which were her most prominent roles before she chose to voluntarily retire from acting.

Facts about Veronica Lario

1. How Veronica met Silvio Berlusconi

Before their paths crossed, Silvio was once married to Carla Dall’Oglio from 1965 to 1985. In fact, many had speculated that it was Lario that caused the divorce between the pair.

They first met in the late 1980s when she was acting in his Teatro Manzoni in Milan. At the time, she was still in a relationship with Enrico Maia Salerno who was also an actor. According to her, when they first met, Silvio gave her lots of compliments about her acting.

Soon afterward, they started dating and by the 15th of December 1990, they became man and wife in spite of the 20 years age difference between them.

2. Old habits don’t change- Berlusconi  continued to cheat on her

During her time with the former four-time Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi did not only cheat on Veronica, he publicly flaunted the younger girls he dated.

Her loudest critics insisted she shouldn’t be publicly shaming her then-husband for ‘frolicking’ with younger women as she was once like these girls since she met him while he was still married to his first wife and even had a child with him while still with his first wife.

Among women linked to Silvio while still married to Lario were Mara Carfagna, Venezuelan showgirl Aida Yespica, Noemi Letizia, and Ayesha al-Gaddafi. He was also accused of paying for sex with an underage girl for which he was convicted; the conviction was later overturned.

3. Veronica Lario was “not a saint”

For many years while they were still married, there was the rumor that it was not only Bercusloni that was cheating as Lario was also allegedly having an affair with Massimo Cacciari, an Italian philosopher and politician.

This was what triggered the former AC Milan owner to make his famous sarcastic remark;  “I think I will introduce him to my wife because he is even more handsome than Cacciari.” He made the remark after describing the then Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as “the best-looking prime minister in Europe”.

4. She is a mother and grandmother

Veronica had 3 children with Berlusconi. They are Barbara who was born in 1984, Eleonora who was born in 1986, and Luigi who was born in 1988. All their kids were born before the two got married.

Her children are all grown and settled in their various families. She is grandmother to Alessandro and Edoardo Valaguzza, Riccardo and Flora Binns, Leone, and Francesco Amos Guerrieri.

5. Lario terminated what would have been her first child

When Veronica and Berlusconi just got together, she got pregnant but terminated it by induced abortion to avoid giving birth to a baby that will be affected by the significant morbidity.

6. Contrasting political views to Berlusconi

Despite keeping away from the media, Veronica was never the type to shy away from expressing her opinion even if they were different from those of her ex-husband.

After news got out that Berlusconi was considering selecting young beautiful women without political experience to represent their party at the parliament’s election office to get votes. She wrote an email to a national news agency disassociating herself from his action.

She also wrote him series of public letters concerning personal disputes that could have been settled privately.

7. Public Appearances

For someone who was once married to a very prominent political leader, Veronica has successfully lived out her life privately. While she was with Berlusconi, she rarely made public appearances with him and she continues to lead a private life even till date. It is a general belief by the Italian press that even her ex-husband’s adversaries appreciated her discretion.

8. The truth about her marriage to Berlusconi

In a 2004 authorized biography, Veronica shared an insight into the kind of marriage she has. If the constant blatant disregard for his wife feelings and marriage isn’t enough indication that there is trouble in paradise. Veronica has said categorically, that her husband is very busy and when he does show up at home, he is always on the phone. Despite all the people around and constant raucous in the house, she feels very alone and lonely.

9. Love for Theatre

Despite years of not acting, Veronica is still much of a theatre girl. She is a frequent theatre-goer and often attends plays that satirize her husband’s government.

10. Divorce Settlement

Veronica split from Berlusconi in 2009 and their divorce was finalized in 2014. The enormous divorce settlement made headlines and according to the Italian media, she got $1.6 million per month amongst other benefits.

In 2017 however, another court ruling stopped the payment and ordered Veronica to return sixty million euros of alimony payments as she had no right to the money which the court believed was too excessive. Nonetheless, the divorce was considered one of the most expensive settlements ever.

11. She loves and is very protective of her children

Before Veronica finalized her decision to file for divorce, she claims to have spoken it over with the children and she is convinced that it is more dignified to end her marriage. When it got out that Berlusconi attended the 18 years birthday of Noemi Letizia, Veronica’s resolution to leave him became more solid. According to her, he never attended the 18th birthday of any of his children.

12. The net worth of Veronica Lario

Thanks to her acting career as well as divorce settlement among other things, Veronica Lario has a net worth that is estimated at $150 million dollars.

Complete Profile of Veronica Lario