**The estranged wife of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is making a 43m euros (£39m) a year divorce claim, according to a media report.**Veronica Lario filed for divorce in May, angered by a reported liaison with an 18-year-old aspiring model.
Her lawyer has not confirmed the report but Italy’s Corriere della Sera has said money has already changed hands.
According to the paper, Mr Berlusconi has offered Ms Lario, with whom he has three children, 200,000 euros a month.
“Sources close to the head of government are also saying that 60[m] to 70m euros have already been paid out to Veronica,” the newspaper said.
Ms Lario, 52, married Mr Berlusconi in 1990, 10 years after meeting him.
Their relationship breakdown has become increasingly public, with Ms Lario re-issuing her autobiography and demanding a front page apology for his disparaging comments about women.
The BBC’s David Willey, in Rome, says that this battle is shaping up to be one of the most costly divorces in Italian history.
Mr Berlusconi’s vast fortune - which spans interest in media, publishing, real estate and investment sectors - is estimated by Italian financial journals to be some 9bn euros.