The world has bid farewell to Silvio Berlusconi, the charismatic former Italian PM who died on 12 June 2023 at the age of 86 from a lung infection linked to leukaemia. The rakish billionaire was elected prime minister three times, bouncing back from salacious scandals, corruption allegations and political missteps. He was finally forced to stand down in 2011, amid Italy's debt crisis and news of his infamous 'bunga bunga' parties, before clawing his way back into politics in 2022 and becoming a senator and a partner in Giorgia Meloni's coalition government. Click or scroll on and let's see where it all started...
Born in Milan in 1936, the son of a bank official and a secretary, Berlusconi sold vacuum cleaners while studying law at Milan University. After a stint singing in nightclubs and on cruises – where he presumably honed his famous charm – Silvio opened a construction business and, in the 1970s, founded his first TV network. Over the following decades, his company Fininvest collected almost 150 companies, including newspaper Il Giornale and football club AC Milan. In 1994, as one of the richest and most powerful men in Italy, he dived head-first into politics, creating the Forza Italia party and winning the general election to become prime minister. He was to become Italy’s longest-serving postwar PM, only to be finally brought down by one scandal too many...
In the spring and summer of 2009, a string of revelations made headlines around the world, allegations that would ultimately go on to unseat Berlusconi from Italy's seat of power. First, his wife of twenty years filed for divorce, accusing him of "frequenting minors." Then, transcripts of conversations between the then-PM and an escort were leaked, followed by 700 suggestive photographs taken at his sprawling Villa Certosa in Sardinia (pictured).
The incriminating pictures reportedly showed Berlusconi and numerous women lounging by the pool, as well as former Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek, according to Czech Radio, who appeared to have mislaid his bathing trunks. Although Berlusconi's lawyers were able to block publication in Italy, Spanish newspaper El País published five of the images in print and online, ensuring they were accessible across Europe and the world.
Berlusconi reportedly bought Villa Certosa in the late 1980s, expanding it over the decades into the enormous estate it is today. Valued in January 2021 at €259 million ($280m/£222m), the 126-room mansion sits on hundreds of acres of private land. It's even rumoured it has a secret Bond-style underwater escape route. Over the years, the Italian leader welcomed various heads of state, including George W. Bush, Vladimir Putin and Tony Blair. It was during Blair's trip to the island that Berlusconi was photographed wearing a now-iconic white bandana following a widely rumoured facelift and hair transplant. Meanwhile, Putin twice returned the favour, hosting Berlusconi at his own allegedly scandal-linked home on Lake Valdai in 2009 and again in 2010.
However, scandal was never far from the former president. In 2010, it was reported that Berlusconi had personally asked police to free Karima El-Mahroug, a 17-year-old girl who had been arrested on suspicion of jewellery theft. Karima – known as Ruby the Heart Stealer – went on to claim that the PM had offered her $10,000 (£8k) to attend private parties held in his villa in Arcore, near Milan. A year later, Berlusconi was forced to step down as PM and, in 2013, he was found guilty of paying El-Mahroug for sex when she was 17 and sentenced to seven years in jail. However, the verdict was overturned on appeal in 2014.
Dubbed “raunchy Reagan" by the press, Berlusconi's earthy humour and charisma resonate with voters to this day and his supporters laid tributes outside Villa San Martino following his death. Held on 14 June 2023, his funeral has been deemed, controversially, a national day of mourning. His state funeral took place in Milan's Duomo Cathedral and presided over by the Archbishop of Milan, Mario Delpini.
Despite the scandal attached to the house, it's here Berlusconi will be laid to rest. In the 1990s, he hired Italian sculptor Pietro Cascella to build him a huge underground mausoleum in the grounds, instructing him in typical Berlusconi fashion to "not make it look too sad". Dario DB, an Italian art professor, posted these images of the mausoleum to Twitter. Carved in pale marble, it has been described as evoking an 'ancient necropolis' which sits above a large underground crypt with room for more than 30 of his friends, family and business associates. In true Berlusconi fashion, the structure was deemed illegal until his government changed the law while he was premier.
In life, the flamboyant mogul wasn't short of jaw-dropping homes, including the stunning Villa Olivetta – also known as Castello di Paraggi – on the Italian Riviera. Berlusconi rented the picturesque pad from the 1980s to the late 1990s, after which it was sold to designer duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. Built sometime around 1626, the villa was occupied by Napoleon's French troops for two years from 1812. Its grand architecture includes four corbeled corner turrets, a large loggia and a Guelph battlement, while the wider compound features an underground mooring point and a swimming pool.
The irrepressible magnate, known affectionally in Italy as 'The Knight,' reportedly rented a floor of the imposing Palazzo Grazioli in Rome from the mid-1990s. The palace was built in the late 16th century by architect Giacomo della Porta, who built many of Rome's major buildings, including St Peter's Basilica. In 1645, the building got a facelift in the Roman Baroque style. It was from this palazzo that Berlusconi announced his resignation from office in November 2011. Ultimately, the rental allegedly proved too expensive to keep up and Berlusconi moved out in December 2020, relocating into another impressive Roman palace.
The former prime minister reportedly bought the villa in 2001 and rented it to a close friend, director Franco Zeffirelli, until his death in 2019. The luxurious home, also known as Villa Grande, is secreted away behind tall hedges and electric gates on Rome's oldest road, the Appia Antica. Renovations were carried out prior to the former PM's move, transforming the interior from achingly tasteful whites and greys into a warmer, more colourful and altogether more 'Berlusconi' style. In 2021, it hosted the centre-right summit that followed the local elections that year. Berlusconi is also rumoured to have owned or part-owned several other properties across Italy and around the world, including villas in Cannes, the Italian Alps and the Italian province of Monza.
The palatial villa pictured here is part of a rambling complex in Antigua, said to belong to Berlusconi, which was central to a 2010 investigation by broadcaster RAI. The report questioned the legitimacy of a property investment the former president had made on the island. He denied any impropriety and sued the show's producers. There is no allegation of wrongdoing. Meanwhile in 2012, he was found guilty of tax fraud in a separate case, landing him with community service, a six-year public office ban and expulsion from the Italian Senate. In all, the Italian charmer reportedly faced trial at least 36 times, but – Teflon-coated to the last – escaped serving any prison time.
Before his fall from grace, Berlusconi was entitled to live in the Quirinal Palace in Rome while in office. Originally a papal summer residence, the palace, which dates back to the 16th century, became the official presidential residence in 1946. It has so far served as the official home of 30 popes, four kings and 12 presidents.
Now occupied by current Italian premier Giorgia Meloni, the exceedingly spacious Quirinal Palace covers around 1.2 million square feet, making it one of the largest palaces in the world and 20 times larger than the White House. On top of that, the palace sits on prime Roman real estate atop Quirinal Hill, the highest of the seven hills of Rome.
Read on to discover the impressive residences of the world's most powerful leaders...
The leaders of the world's richest countries get to live in some pretty palatial residences. But which leaders live a life of unbridled luxury, and which are partial to a more humble property? Featuring a peek into the places that the likes of Vladimir Putin, Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden call home, we count down these world leaders’ homes from the more modest to the unashamedly extravagant.
Meaning, 'fortress inside a city,' the Kremlin is a vast complex that includes five palaces, four cathedrals and a helipad. The Grand Kremlin Palace is currently the main official residence of the Russian president in Moscow. The site has been continuously occupied since the second century BC, with work starting on the existing structure around 1838. The largest building in the complex, the Grand Palace cost over $1 billion (£792m) to renovate in the 1990s. The complex as a whole is said to be priceless.
Putin doesn't actually live in the Kremlin Palace. His official residence since 2000, Novo-Ogaryevo in west Moscow, is the place the Russian leader officially calls home – he even remained living in the large pastel yellow mansion during his four-year break from the presidency between 2008 and 2012. However, it's believed that a sprawling pile on the Black Sea coast (pictured) is his true home. Known colloquially as Putin’s Palace, opposition leader Alexei Navalny claims that the Italianate mega-mansion belongs to the Russian president. He alleges the ultra-lavish property cost $1.4 billion (£1.1bn) to build and that taxpayer money was used to fund it.
A simple Georgian townhouse in central London, 10 Downing Street measures 3,800 square feet across approximately 100 rooms. Although this is typically the prime minister’s residence, former PM Tony Blair was the first to upscale to the larger residential quarters at next door’s 11 Downing Street, describing the official four-bedroom apartment as “too pokey” for his family. You'd expect a little more room for a $6.7 million (£5.3m) property. Subsequent PMs David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson all followed suit, but Rishi Sunak was content to remain in the smaller Number 10 flat he occupied as chancellor. His family lives between a townhouse in Kensington and a manor in Northallerton, North Yorkshire.
The UK prime minister is also granted the use of an official country residence, Chequers Court. Intended to be a retreat from the pressures of political life, it was donated by a Conservative MP and his American heiress wife in 1917 and today boasts a heated swimming pool and tennis court. Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie spent a self-isolation period on the 1,000-acre estate during the covid pandemic, while Rishi Sunak hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the 16th-century manor house in May 2023. It's said to cost UK taxpayers a whopping $1.3 million (£1m) a year to maintain.
The official residence of the prime minister of Canada is 24 Sussex Drive in the leafy New Edinburgh neighbourhood of Ottawa. Although this is where current PM Justin Trudeau grew up (he is the son of Pierre Trudeau who was the Canadian PM from 1968 to 1984), he has not lived here during his tenure. The house has been poorly maintained since its last renovation in 1950 and parts of the structure are literally falling apart. The value of the home has been assessed at some CA$13.3 million (£10m/£7.9m), but it's said to need CA$36.6 million ($27.5m/£21.8m) in repairs.
Trudeau and his family have lived at Rideau Cottage – also in New Edinburgh – since October 2015: the month before he assumed leadership of Canada. Built in 1867, the 22-room Georgian Revival building has undergone a more recent renovation and is known for its beautifully understated design, characterised by a classically-inspired central entrance. It has a much more sizable value of $50 million (£44m), according to research by insurance provider Mashroom, but is owned by the King as the Head of the Commonwealth, of which Canada is part.
More small country house than sprawling palace, Anthony Albanese lives in The Lodge, which sits on 193,750 square feet of grounds and has 40 rooms in total. Built in the 1920s, the Canberra property was only intended to serve as a temporary residence "until such time as a monumental prime minister's residence is constructed". Domain reportedly estimates The Lodge’s value to be AU$15 million ($10.1m/£8m).
Although The Lodge is the prime minister's main official residence, he also has the use of Kirribilli House. Designed in the rustic cottage ornée style, it sits on the Sydney harbourside and commands impressive views out to iconic landmarks such as the Harbour Bridge and Opera House.
Size-wise, the White House totals 55,000 square feet, which is relatively compact for a presidential palace. The six-storey building consists of 132 rooms, including the famous Oval Office (pictured) and Blue Room, and has 35 bathrooms. No wonder such a lavish pad is thought to be worth $397.9 million (£316m), according to Zillow. One of the world's most iconic landmarks, the White House is a copy of the 1748 Leinster house in Dublin.
Set in 270,000 square feet of gardens, Mahlamba Ndlopfu is the official residence of the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa. The $14.1 million (£11.2m) mansion was built in 1940 in a traditional Cape Dutch style and was originally known as Libertas. Following the end of the Apartheid era and the election of South Africa’s first black president Nelson Mandela, its name was changed to Mahlamba Ndlopfu, which means 'new dawn' in the Tsonga language. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are pictured inside the property with Ramaphosa here.
Ramaphosa is a notoriously private man and little is known about his personal life, but he is considered to be one of the richest people in South Africa with an estimated net worth of $450 million (£357m) according to Forbes. Although he does reside in this Pretoria mansion, he also owns a luxury property at the foot of Lion's Head in Cape Town.
Also known as the Justice Palace, Qasr Al Hukm in Riyadh is Saudi Arabia's traditional seat of government and the official residence of 37-year-old Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud – known as MBS – who is also the country's prime minister.
The fortress-style palace was built during the 19th century and sprawls over 124,000 square feet. The palace and its surrounding streets were renovated in the 1980s, reportedly to the tune of some $60 million (£48m). In September 2015, the Saudi government opened the palace to the public for the first time, giving them a glimpse inside the extraordinary residence.
Although Germany's Federal Chancellery is the largest government headquarters in the world, the official residence of the Chancellor – Olaf Scholz – is a rather more humble affair. The two-bedroom apartment measures just 2,150 square feet and is located on the top floor of the modern federal building located on the banks of the river Spree. Building work started in 1997 after architects Charlotte Frank and Alex Schultes won a public competition with their postmodern design.
Scholz receives dignitaries from around the world at the Chancellery, including Giorgia Meloni, seen here visiting the German premier in February 2023. The honorary court is home to Berlin, a striking iron sculpture by Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida. The 18-foot-high, 87.5-tonne artwork is intended to symbolise political rapprochement and unification.
Looking more like a Bond villain's lair than a presidential palace, the modernist Palácio da Alvorada in Brasilia was designed by the world-renowned architect Oscar Niemeyer and built between 1957 and 1958. The building was heavily restored in 2006 at a cost of $18.4 million (£14.6m). The palace comprises 75,000 square feet and the rooms are arranged over three floors. According to research from property website Hatched, it's estimated to be worth around $20 million (£15.9m).
Packed with amenities, the Palácio da Alvorada houses a movie theatre, games room and medical centre and even has its own chapel and helipad. Now the residence of President Lula, it was widely reported in January 2023 that his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro had "wrecked" the palace, leaving torn carpets and broken windows, as well as damaged artwork – some artwork allegedly disappeared entirely.
Quinta de Olivos is the official residence of Argentina's president, currently Alberto Fernández. The 87,000-square-foot palace is located in Olivos, an exclusive suburb of Buenos Aires, and was built in the mid-19th century.
The palace is so opulent that several former presidents of Argentina have opted to live elsewhere to avoid appearing out of touch with the people. The compound's many facilities include a mini-golf course and a helipad, contributing to the property’s market value of $22.6 million (£17.9m), as estimated by Hatched.
Located on the prestigious Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris, the Elysée Palace is the official residence of the President of France Emmanuel Macron – the youngest in the country’s history. The ornate palace, which was completed in the 18th century, totals 118,000 square feet and is our first property to value at over $1 billion (£793k). According to research from Mashroom, it's worth $1.8 billion (£1.4bn).
Unlike other presidential residences, the Elysée Palace is super-private and foreign dignitaries stay at the luxe Hotel de Marigny. Former French president Francois Hollande is pictured here being interviewed in 2013, surrounded by a lavish, heavily gilded interior. Former President Charles de Gaulle organised the purchase of the Hotel in 1972 to avoid “meeting kings walking around my corridors in their pyjamas”.
While Spain's Head of State King Felipe VI lives in the Palacio de la Zarzuela on the outskirts of Madrid, the country's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez resides in the Palace of Moncloa in the centre of the capital. A piece of prime real estate, it has been estimated to be worth $146 million (£116m) by Hatched.
The 352,000-square-foot palace, which dates back to the 17th century, has been the property of the Spanish state since 1846 and was repurposed as the official residence of the country's PMs during the transition from monarchy to democracy in 1977.
Although India has a prime minister, the president is its head of state. The Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi is the official residence of the president of India, India's Droupadi Murmu. Formerly known as Viceroy House, the complex was designed by Edwin Lutyens – best known for designing English country houses – and built for the British Viceroy. It was completed in 1929.
The complex became the official residence of India's first President Rajendra Prasad and was renamed Rashtrapati Bhavan (Presidential Residence) in 1950. The huge estate sprawls over 2.2 million square feet and includes the main 340-room building and extensive gardens. Hatched puts its approximate value at $527 million (£419m).
Turkey's new presidential palace in the capital Ankara was completed in 2014. Dubbed 'Ak Saray', aka the 'White House', the gargantuan 1,150-room complex is four times the size of the Palace of Versailles and the second-largest presidential complex in the world at 3.2 million square feet.
The pet project of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Ak Saray has been mired in controversy since its conception. Critics have lambasted the government for its extravagant spending on the palace interiors, which are packed with fine marble, lavish furnishings and expensive artworks. This contributes to its real estate valuation of $659 million (£522.8m), according to Hatched. The palace is seen here in May 2023 after Erdoğan won a historic election, extending his rule until 2028.
Zhongnanhai totals a staggering 37 million square feet, which explains its astronomical $39.6 billion (£31.4bn) valuation by Hatched. The complex is more than 17,000 times larger than Olaf Scholz's official residence, and almost 44,000 times more valuable.
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