Patrizia D Addario, the escort who alleges she spent the night with Silvio Berlusconi, was elevated from call girl to parliamentary candidate but claims she was then ostracised by those who feared she would reveal her secrets.

Villa Grazioli, Mr Berlusconi's official residence in Rome, where Patrizia D Addario claims she made secret recordings of conversations with the prime minister on the night of the US presidential election last November.

An Italian gossip magazine reports details of Mr Berlusconi's friendship with Noemi Letizia, an aspiring model who calls the 72-year-old prime minister 'Daddy' and received an expensive necklace from him for her 18th birthday in Naples in April.

Noemi Letizia leaves a polling station with her mother Anna Palumbo after voting in European Parliament elections in Naples. Mr Berlusconi said he would resign if he were shown to be lying by denying having had 'spicy' relations with her.

Salacious reports have appeared in the Italian press saying Mr Berlusconi entertained young women, many from eastern Europe, at a party at his home in Sardinia. Two women, one a self-described hostess and the other a former escort, have alleged that they were paid by a businessman in Bari, southern Italy, to attend the parties.

The Spanish daily El Pais published a set of photos that included shots of nude and semi-nude guests at Berlusconi's Villa Certosa in Sardinia Barbara Montereale.

Mr Berlusconi, with a picture of his wife, Veronica Lario, projected in the background, was asked about his marital problems when he appeared on an Italian TV show in May. Ms Lario has accused her 72-year-old billionaire husband of 'frequenting minors' and of promoting the political careers of TV showgirls. She has asked for a divorce.

The left-leaning daily La Repubblica, pointed out that Mr Berlusconi's control over television means the large majority of Italians know little in detail of the lurid allegations against him.