Italy declares national day of mourning after Silvio Berlusconi dies at 86

"The government has declared a national day of mourning for June 14th," while all Italian and European flags on public buildings will be lowered to half mast from Monday nationwide, the spokesman told AFP.

Berlusconi died in hospital following a battle with leukaemia, his spokesman confirmed on Monday morning.

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Berlusconi had been admitted to Milan's San Raffaele Hospital on Friday for what aides had said were pre-planned tests related to his leukemia.

The 86-year-old billionaire media mogul had been discharged three weeks earlier following a six-week stay at the hospital, during which time doctors revealed he had a rare type of blood cancer.

He was to have a state funeral in Milan's cathedral, the local diocese said earlier on Monday.

READ ALSO: What will the national day of mourning mean for Italy?

"Silvio Berlusconi's state funeral will take place on Wednesday June 14 in the Milan Duomo," the diocese in the northern Italian city said on its website.

Berlusconi had suffered ill health for years, from heart surgery in 2016 to a 2020 hospitalisation for coronavirus. Despite being re-elected to the Senate last year, he was rarely seen in public.

But he remained the official head of his right-wing Forza Italia party, the smallest of three parties in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition government.

Meloni, a close ally of Berlusconi's, paid tribute to the man she called "one of the most influential in Italy's history" in a video message on Monday.

"Berlusconi was above all a fighter," Meloni said in a video message posted on Twitter.

"He was a man who was not afraid to defend his convictions, and it was precisely that courage and determination which made him one of the most influential men in Italy's history," she said.

As Berlusconi's body was moved from the hospital to Villa San Martino, and flags were lowered to half mast on all public buildings, tributes came from in from international leaders.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his death was an "irreparable loss" and he hailed him as a "true friend."

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban tweeted: "Gone is the great fighter", while Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "Silvio was a great friend of Israel".

READ ALSO: 'I got away with it!': Berlusconi’s most outrageous quotes

Berlusconi led Italy three times between 1994 and 2011, for a total of nine years, wooing voters with a promise of economic success only to be forced out as a debt crisis gripped his country.

But his influence extended well beyond politics, thanks to his extensive TV, newspaper and sporting empire, while a tax fraud conviction and other scandals kept him in the headlines even in his final years.

He was survived by his 33-year-old girlfriend, Marta Fascina, two ex-wives and five children, some of whom help run his business empire, recently estimated to be worth some seven billion dollars.

Charismatic, clownish and with a fine grasp of what his audiences wanted, Berlusconi used his media interests to project an image of a strong, self-made man that voters could emulate - a tactic later used by US president Donald Trump.

He portrayed himself as both the messiah and a martyr and enjoyed widespread popularity, though detractors accused him of cronyism, corruption and pushing through laws to protect his own interests.

His fans admired his plain speaking, although many Italians were acutely embarrassed by his crude jokes and insults on the international stage, as well as his endless legal cases, which resulted in one conviction for corporate tax fraud.

While Italy's economy floundered, the self-professed playboy was hosting his notorious 'bunga bunga' sex parties, which triggered a series of trials that were only wrapped up in recent months.