Rome:
The estranged wife of Silvio Berlusconi says in a new book that his repeated lies are what prompted her to seek a divorce in order to regain "a little respect".
The untruth that was the last straw for Veronica Lario was when Berlusconi told her in late April that he had to go to Naples for an important meeting about the rubbish crisis in the southern city.
Instead, he went to attend the 18th birthday party of aspiring model Noemi Letizia, whose relationship with the prime minister has been the subject of months of intrigue.
"An umpteenth lie," Lario writes in the book, titled "Tendenza Veronica" (Veronica's Way). "To get a little respect, it was better for me to ask for a divorce."
Lario, who at 53 is 20 years younger than Berlusconi, married him in 1990 and bore him three children.
The book is an updated edition of a set of interviews Lario gave to an Italian journalist, published in 2004.
"Noemigate" broke out when Lario declared that she could "not stay with a man who frequents minors" and said she would seek a divorce.
Berlusconi, while a notorious womaniser, has repeatedly insisted that he does not go for under-age girls, but he has never clearly explained his relationship to Letizia.