The Pope, the PM's wife … and the topless model

Published on Wednesday 8 July 2009 22:02

IT COULD only happen in Silvio Berlusconi's Italy.

The official G8 business may be the major concerns of global warming, the parlous state of the economy and the threat of international terrorism.

But that all fell into the shade yesterday as the wives of the global leaders were escorted by former topless model turned equalities minister to meet, of all people, the Pope.

Intriguingly, Sarah Brown, the Prime Minister's wife, is promising to blog throughout the visit on the tales she picks up.

Mrs Brown honoured the Italian stereotype of excessive fashion-consciousness yesterday by undertaking no less than three costume changes during the day as she went on a whistlestop tour of the ancient capital.

The highlight was a 30-minute audience with the Pontiff in the Vatican where she was presented with the Annual Papal Medal, struck every year to commemorate major events.

Observing the Vatican protocols, Mrs Brown donned a shawl around her shoulders yesterday before meeting Pope Benedict XVI.

After initially addressing the Pope as "Your Holiness", Mrs Brown later used the form of address "Holy Father", which is regarded in the Holy See as a more Catholic greeting.

If the Pope decided to press on Mrs Brown his concerns over the decline of traditional Catholic values, he need only have pointed to the example set by his own prime minister close to home as evidence.

Mrs Brown and her fellow spouses were given their tour by Mara Carfagna, a 33-year-old former nude model and Miss Italia contestant, hand-picked by Mr Berlusconi to become his equalities minister.

Ms Carfagna was only drafted in because the woman who should have acted as First Hostess, Mr Berlusconi's wife Veronica Lario, is currently divorcing the prime minister over his friendship with an 18-year-old aspiring model.

If Mrs Brown was taken aback by the unusual arrangements, she showed little sign of it. "They are all very interesting people," she said yesterday of her fellow G8 attendees.

Meanwhile, there were suggestions that the wife of French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Carla Bruni, had deliberately stayed away as a snub to the Italian leader.

It follows claims that Mr Berlusconi had boasted to her husband that he "gave" him his Italian-born wife, a comment which he has denied. Mrs Bruni is reported to have commented that she is now "very happy to have become French" after Mr Berlusconi made another joke referring to President Barack Obama's "sun tan".

US First Lady Michelle Obama was also not present yesterday as she is expected to have a separate audience with the Pope tomorrow alongside her husband.

The complicated arrangements for the wives will not let up as the week continues. Mrs Brown and the other spouses are all being put up in the town of L'Aquila by Clio Napolitano, the wife of the Italian president, Giorgio Napolitano.

With Mrs Obama and Mrs Bruni expected to arrive today, the group will visit victims of the earthquake which devastated the town in April before enjoying a private tour of Rome and a cocktail party at the Quirinale palace.

Sarah blogs Rome for Team Brown

SARAH Brown's role has increased markedly in recent months, as Downing Street seeks to improve the image of Team Brown.

With the Prime Minister yesterday locked in private talks at the G8 summit in Rome, his wife began blogging on her part of the trip, promising to offer a behind-the-scenes account of life at the Rome summit.

The reality, placed on the Number 10 website yesterday, comes across as a typical tourist's postcard – albeit with VIP status

"Gordon is whisked off to the summit. I spend the first day in Rome and join the programme for the First Ladies and PMs' wives," Mrs Brown writes,

She goes on: "I have the privilege of a second meeting with the Pope in Vatican City with the rest of my group (good to see the spouses from Mexico, India and the EU who are all friends from the G20)."

She tries to inject a little more colour with her account of lunch with the mayor of Rome's wife: "Extraordinary antiquities and the Chef's signature Ravioli Carbonara," she notes.

&#149 The Downing Street postcard can be found at www.sarahbrowng8.wordpress.com