Italy says goodbye to ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi

Italy prepared to say farewell to former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi Wednesday, with thousands of people expected at the billionaire tycoon's state funeral in Milan.

The ceremony for Berlusconi, who died Monday aged 86, will be held in the city's Gothic Duomo cathedral and shown live on big screens in the square.

Berlusconi, adored and loathed by Italians in equal part, 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.

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

It was not clear which current or former world leaders would be present at the ceremony, which is to begin at 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) and will be presided over by Archbishop Mario Delpini.

The longest-serving premier in Italy's post-war history, and re-elected to the Senate last year, Berlusconi was 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 cannot travel to Italy.

Berlusconi is survived by his 33-year-old girlfriend, Marta Fascina, with whom he held a fake wedding last year and who was at his bedside as he succumbed to a rare type of blood cancer. 

She is expected to be joined in the front pews by Berlusconi's two ex-wives and five children, some of whom helped run his empire, recently estimated to be worth around $7 billion.

"You were a great man and an extraordinary father to...