You're not forgiven!

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi says sorry to his wife Veronica Lario for flirting with Mara Carfagna (photo), but she hasn't accepted his apology. It's not over... (See La dolce politica, Don't cha wish your MP was hot like me and Italian soap opera

The Open Letter of Veronica Lario

I have faced the conflicts and painful moments of a long conjugal relationship with respect and discretion.

To my husband and to the public man I therefore ask for a public apology, having not received one privately.

This line of conduct has a sole limit, my dignity as a woman. Today for my female children... the example of a woman capable of defending her own dignity in her relationships with men takes on a particularly significant importance.

The apology of Silvio Berlusconi

Here I am, saying I'm sorry. I was recalcitrant in private, because I am playful but proud too. Challenged in public, the temptation to give in to you is strong. I can't resist.

We have been together for a whole life... You have always been for me from the first moment that we met and fell in love.

Believe me, I have never made a marriage proposal to anyone. So, I beg you, forgive me and accept this public display of a private pride that gives in to your rage as an act of love - just one of many.