Berlusconi: the ex-prime minister becomes an ex-knight

Wednesday, 19 March 2014. In order to avoid being publicly stripped of his knighthood, Silvio Berlusconi renounces the title, giving up one of his dearest nicknames as well as a highly regarded honour.

Anticipating the moves of the Italian Federation of Knights of Labour – they'll hold a meeting in a few days – Silvio Berlusconi has decided to stripped himself of the title of Knight of Labour, before being humiliated by a public and humiliating expulsion (he has already been expelled from the Italian Senate, and that was enough).

An old picture, taken when Silvio Berlusconi was still a Knight (source: Nonciclopedia)

The Order of Labour's ruled read state that knights must show “exemplary civil and social behaviour” and some people might have observed that a guy who is convicted for tax fraud, banned from running as a candidate for public office or travelling abroad, accused of paying for sex with an under-age prostitute (and abusing of his power in order to cover up his deeds), indicted of having bribed the witnesses of the proceedings trying to prove the latter, indicted of having bribed a bunch of Senators (the Senate of Italy is a civil plaintiff in the trial) and a few other felonies, malpractices, blunders and malpractices, might not be able to exhibit such a disposition.


Actually he also divorced twice (the last time one month ago), Italian Christians should regret that too, and apparently faked a doggy style with a parking warden in Bussels (see video), though the authenticity of the shooting has never been proved.

And apart from what he has done, he has been frequenting the wrong companies, surrounding himself with pimps and women of (sometimes) easy virtue (and having invited them into his very home in Arese, to organise the so-called bunga-bunga parties), drug dealers (it's in the news, one of his former aides was caught with loads of cocaine strolling around an airport...), wheeler-dealers, traffickers and other shady characters.

Silvio Berlusconi became a knight – and subsequently got his nickname of Il Cavaliere (The Knight) – in 1977, the appointment was granted by Giovanni Leone, then president of Italy, one of the few Italian politicians forced due to involvement in a corruption case (namely the Lockheed bribery scandal). What a coincidence! 

Mr Berlusconi's decision of resigning from his knighthood came just after an umpteenth attempt to appeal against one of the ruling against him (interdiction of running for public office) was rejected by a high court.

Some might think it's time for Silvio Berlusconi to dedicate more of his time to the family and the ailing AC Milan, and get out of Italians way for good. He might not have the same opinion. We shall see.

Note: Pictures and photos might contain additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. If the file has been modified, some details may not fully reflect the reality.