Party girls rally to Berlusconi’s defence

Silvio Berlusconi's troupe of actresses, showgirls and TV stars have responded to the rumours about what went on at a New Year's Eve party at the Italian Prime Minister's Sardinian villa.

For weeks, the Italian media has been rife with accusations that Berlusconi, 72, had an illicit relationship with Noemi Letizia, an aspiring model. Berlusconi denies this, but hasn't convincingly explained why he gave her a £5,300 pendant (pictured above, displayed by Letizia) for her 18th birthday present.

When Berlusconi went to court, claiming an invasion of privacy, to stop a local photographer from selling hundreds of pictures that he'd taken with a long-range lens of the goings-on at Villa Certosa, speculation about the media magnate's relationships with younger women intensified.

Antonello Zappadu's photos were said to include a naked snap of Mirek Topolanek, the former Czech Prime Minister, and, on another occasion, some girls cavorting topless under a shower.

The women deny that anything risqué went on. Elisa Alloro, a 32-year-old former employee of Berlusconi's television network who was once mooted as a potential MEP, has written a book called We, Silvio's Girls, in which she explains that many of the girls called Berlusconi 'papi', an affectionate Italian translation of daddy, as a codename. They took this precaution because they didn't want their phone conversations to be tapped.

The book is addressed to Veronica Lario, the wife who is divorcing Berlusconi over his relationships with younger woman. Alloro writes that "the Prime Minister is a mine of wisdom. I have always considered every moment I have spent with him a gift from God".

Other images taken by Zappadu show Berlusconi, fully clothed, driving girls round his estate in a golf buggy under the watch of armed guards. Imma Di Ninni, 30, a reality TV star on MediaSet, which Berlusconi owns, was one of the guests in Sardinia. She maintains that Berlusconi always behaved like a gentleman, and proudly showed visitors his garden. "He is an expert in botany," she said.