Thousands of mourners have gathered to bid a closing farewell to former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

A state funeral was held in Milan on Wednesday, a nationwide day of mourning, for the divisive and domineering four-time premier, who died on Monday aged 86 in a hospital the place he was being handled for power leukaemia.

The ceremony was held within the metropolis's well-known Duomo cathedral, with Hungarian President Viktor Orban among the many high-ranking overseas dignitaries who attended.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni - who confronted criticism for her authorities's choice to carry a state funeral and declare a uncommon nationwide day of mourning - have been additionally current on the funeral, along with three former Italian leaders.

Crowds stuffed a piazza exterior the Duomo to look at the service on two big screens, erupting in applause because the casket was lifted out of the hearse and brought into the cathedral.

Mr Berlusconi's accomplice, Marta Fascina, collectively together with his brother, Paolo, and kids Luigi, Marina, Barbara, Pier Silvio and Eleonora, have been additionally pictured on the state funeral.

Read extra:What occurs to Silvio Berlusconi's enterprise empire now he has gone?Silvio Berlusconi's most controversial political moments

His physique might be cremated earlier than his ashes are taken to the household mausoleum within the grounds of his villa within the northern city of Arcore, about 20km northeast of Milan, a household supply mentioned.

Mr Berlusconi's coffin was anticipated to be transported to Villa San Martino forward of cremation on the Valenziano Panta Rei Crematorium Temple, close to town of Alessandria.

The mausoleum, constructed by sculptor Pietro Cascella within the early Nineteen Nineties, is a white marble constructing with an underground mortuary. A sarcophagus of the previous Italian chief stands on the centre.

Mr Berlusconi's household held a non-public wake on Tuesday at considered one of his villas close to Milan.

From cruise ship crooner to Italian prime minister, Berlusconi's legacy is as sophisticated as it's divisive

International correspondent

@alexrossiSKY

Crowds of Berlusconi supporters gathered early at Milan Cathedral.

Many of them have been waving Forza Italia flags, his political celebration.

All of them had come to mourn a person they thought had been an excellent Italian and a tremendous chief of the nation.

But the person - who began as a cruise ship crooner, went on to develop into a property and media baron and 4 instances prime minister - was vastly controversial.

Unsurprisingly, his legacy is as sophisticated as it's divisive.

Silvio Berlusconi was a singular political expertise and can be a forerunner for proper wing populists to return.

He was the primary post-modern politician. He did not supply voters a boring programme of insurance policies, he supplied one thing much more mercurial - himself.

Using his ability as an orator and his media energy he created a cult of persona and have become an electoral juggernaut.

Often embroiled in authorized battles he railed towards elites, portraying himself as an outsider and a sufferer.

In dying although - afforded a state funeral and a nationwide day of mourning - he has cemented his place, for higher or worse, as a towering determine of the political institution.

Certainly probably the most influential determine the nation has seen since Benito Mussolini.

Paolo Scaroni, the chairman of Mr Berlusconi's beloved AC Milan soccer membership, along with former gamers together with Giovanni Galli, Demetrio Albertini, Franco Baresi and Daniele Massaro, have been among the many distinguished figures from Italian soccer in attendance on the state funeral.

They have been joined by former England supervisor, Fabio Capello; the president of S.S Lazio, Claudio Lotito, and S.S.C Napoli proprietor, Aurelio De Laurentiis.

The outpouring of grief comes as Italians stay cut up over whether or not Mr Berlusconi's affect was for the higher or worse - and whether or not he deserves a state funeral.

Read extra:

Many cherished him, many hated him - response to scandal-hit premier's dyingWhen Berlusconi invited the media to the 'bunga bunga'

In his eulogy, Archbishop of Milan, Mario Delpini, described the previous premier as a "businessman who found success and failure, a politician who won and lost, a notoriety-seeking personality who had admirers and detractors, those who applaud him and those who detest him."

Former European Parliament candidate, Barbara Cacellari, mentioned protests over easy methods to formally mark Mr Berlusconi's dying confirmed a scarcity of respect.

"He is a person who represents the history of this country," she mentioned, including: "No one is without stains, I think."

Content Source: information.sky.com