Silvio Berlusconi is free to marry his 28-year-old fiancée after an Italian court finalised his divorce settlement, five years after his long-suffering wife announced that she could no longer tolerate his “consorting with minors”.

Francesca Pascale, 28, who is younger than some of the 77-year-old former prime minister’s children, has made no secret of the fact that she is determined to formalise their engagement and get married at the earliest opportunity.

In an interview with the Italian edition of Vanity Fair last year, she claimed that she had fallen for the media tycoon when she was a teenager, offering him her telephone number at a party rally.

“I chased him, I wooed him - I did everything. All he had to do was say ’yes’,” she said.

There is fevered speculation in Italy about when the wedding might be, and whether the happy couple might decide to start a family - notwithstanding Mr Berlusconi’s advanced age and the fact that a baby would complicate the division of the ex-premier’s huge personal fortune and extensive business empire.

He already has five grown-up children from two marriages - Miss Pascale would be his third wife if they decide to tie the knot.

The divorce between Mr Berlusconi and Veronica Lario, 57, whom he married in 1990, was handed down by a court in Monza in northern Italy.

The former actress, who first caught the politician’s eye in 1980 when she appeared topless in a stage performance of a play called The Magnificent Cuckold, announced that she was leaving him in 2009 after he attended the 18th birthday party of an aspiring lingerie model, amid questions as to the nature of their relationship.

Miss Lario said she could no longer bear to be married to a man who “consorted with minors”.

The court’s approval of the divorce does not, however, bring to an end the wrangling over how much alimony Mr Berlusconi should pay his ex-wife - the financial settlement is still to be worked out.

The court in Monza initially awarded Miss Lario three million euros (£2.5 million) a month but the amount was subsequently cut by more than half to 1.4 million euros a month after an appeal by the billionaire businessman last October.

Miss Lario in turn launched an appeal against that judgment, and a final ruling is expected in the coming months.

Although Mr Berlusconi was humiliatingly expelled from the Italian parliament late last year as a result of a conviction for tax fraud, he remains the leader of his revamped Forza Italia party.

He is still a force to be reckoned with on the Italian political scene - on Wednesday he held talks with Matteo Renzi, the 39-year-old leader of the centre-Left who is poised to become Italy’s youngest ever prime minister.

Mr Berlusconi’s party will not be part of the coalition, but the two men discussed reforms to Italy’s electoral system.

The three-time prime minister said he would be part of a “responsible” opposition.

”We too are in favour of rejuvenating the government,” Mr Berlusconi said. “Today I met a premier who’s half my age - a good sign for the renewal of the ruling class.”

In April Mr Berlusconi is due to start serving a year’s sentence for his tax fraud conviction, either performing social services or under house arrest.

He is also appealing a conviction for paying for sex with an underage prostitute at the “bunga bunga” parties held in his villa in Milan, and went on trial last week accused of paying a three million euro bribe to a senator in exchange for his defection from the Left.