"These are statements that I see as damaging to my dignity, affirmations that. . . cannot be reduced to jokes.

"To my husband and to the public man I therefore ask for a public apology, having not received one privately.

"This line of conduct has a sole limit, my dignity as a woman. Today for my female children. . . the example of a woman capable of defending her own dignity in her relationships with men takes on a particularly significant importance."

What Silvio said "Here I am, saying I'm sorry. I was recalcitrant in private, because I am playful but proud too. Challenged in public, the temptation to give in to you is strong. I can't resist. We have been together for a whole life. [We have] three adorable children whom you have prepared for life with the care and loving rigour of the splendid person that you are, and which you have always been for me from the first moment that we met and fell in love.

Believe me, I have never made a marriage proposal to anyone. So, I beg you, forgive me and accept this public display of a private pride that gives in to your rage as an act of love - just one of many."