By Angelo Amante and Alvise Armellini

ROME Silvio Berlusconi's 33-year-old partner Marta Fascina joined the late tycoon's family on the front bench of Milan's Cathedral, as the former Italian prime minister was commemorated with a solemn state funeral.

The service for the 86-year-old billionaire attracted politicians and business leaders, as well as TV starlets, soccer players, soccer club chairmen, placard-waving fans of AC Milan, a club he owned for around three decades, and thousands of ordinary members of the public.

Marina, Berlusconi's eldest daughter and the head of family holding Fininvest, held Fascina's hand as they arrived at the funeral. They were both in tears as the coffin was placed before the altar.

Fascina had an established place in the family. She and Berlusconi never married, but last year they exchanged rings in a symbolic ceremony and he publicly called her his "wife".

A lawmaker with Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, she is expected to pull her weight in the decisions over his political legacy. Forza Italia is a junior member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing coalition.

Business looks firmly in the hands of Berlusconi's children, with some investors betting that they could now seek a partner for family broadcaster MFE-MediaForEurope or sell it to a larger rival.

Berlusconi had two wives and was known for his passion for women, which caused him trouble when the "bunga bunga" sex scandal broke out, leading to underage prostitution charges from which he was acquitted on appeal.

His wife at the time, former actress Veronica Lario, divorced him due to the scandal, saying she could not live with a man she described as "a dragon to whom young virgins offer themselves".

Lario attended the funeral but paid no public tribute to her former husband, unlike Berlusconi's first wife, Carla Elvira Dall'Oglio, who called him in a newspaper obituary "a great man and an extraordinary father for our children".

Another ex, Francesca Pascale, was also present. She had a 10-year relationship with Berlusconi, but they split in 2020 and she is now in a same-sex civil partnership with an Italian pop singer.

Over his long and colourful life, Berlusconi built up a large family with five children, more than a dozen grandchildren and one great-grandson. According to Forbes, he also leaves behind a fortune worth around $6.8 billion.

(Reporting by Angelo Amante and Alvise Armellini; Editing by Nick Macfie)