Faces of the week

Our regular look at some of the faces which have made the news this week. Above are SILVIO BERLUSCONI (main picture), with Sue Lawley, Stuart Rose, Prince Harry and Pearl Cornioley.

Written by BBC News Profiles Unit's Chris Jones.

SILVIO BERLUSCONI

The reluctance of Silvio Berlusconi to admit election defeat by Italy's centre-left leader, Romano Prodi, has surprised no-one with even the most cursory knowledge of the prime minister's life.

The notion of losing is foreign to the nature of a man who's moulded events to his own design.

When the billionaire media magnate says the voting figures display "many, many, murky aspects", commentators might bring to mind an observation about a pot and a kettle.

Recently, his name has intruded on the British political scene. Italian prosecutors asked a judge to indict the prime minister, now the caretaker of his country's fortunes, and British lawyer David Mills, estranged husband of Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell.

Prosecutors allege that Berlusconi paid Mr Mills a bribe to give favourable evidence in one of his previous corruption trials. Berlusconi, like Mr Mills, strenuously denies the charges.

The prime minister graduated in law from the University of Milan, his home city. Ever since he has demonstrated an inventiveness in his relationships with the judicial system.

Among the measures introduced by Berlusconi governments to save him from a possible prison sentence was one cutting in half the statute of limitations for white-collar offences.

But making money is probably Silvio Berlusconi's greatest talent. It began early. As a youth, he supplemented his income by putting on puppet shows and by charging for "ghosting" homework assignments for his classmates.

Television titan

As a law student, he paid for his tuition by selling vacuum cleaners and by crooning, accompanied by his own band, on summer cruises.

He amassed his first serious money in the 1970s through property development, before diversifying his business holdings, buying department stores, cinemas, publishing companies and the AC Milan football club.

The bulk of his fortune, now estimated at $12bn (£7bn) or more, was made in television. Aided by the socialist government of Bettino Craxi, a friend from university, Berlusconi acquired three national TV channels.

He entered party politics in 1993, when his television empire appeared to be under threat at a time when his umbrella holding company, Fininvest, faced serious debts.

His centre-right populist party, Forza Italia, emerged as the biggest single party in the 1994 election and Berlusconi became the prime minister of an inevitable coalition government.

His triumph followed a campaign in which Berlusconi, perma-tanned with a pearly white smile, utilised the powerful advantage of his television channels by telling viewers: "You can trust me".

The only man

Known as the Cavalier by his supporters and the Watersnake by his opponents, Berlusconi portrayed his party as an efficient and business-like alternative to the corruption and cronyism endemic in Italian politics.

He promoted himself as its chief asset: "No-one else has the ability, stamina or courage," he said.

But his coalition collapsed after only seven months. Despite his skills as a communicator, he demonstrated little instinct for the complex political negotiations and compromises needed to manage a fractious coalition, a task that seems to confront every Italian prime minister.

Subsequently accused of the corruption he had promised to expunge, Berlusconi was convicted of financial crimes. But the convictions were overturned on appeal.

In 2001, he mounted another successful election campaign, mailing 12 million households with a glossy booklet which included photos of Berlusconi as a dashing entrepreneur and as the family man, feeding his daughter and jogging with his son.

"This guy is a potential megalomaniac. You could not fit his ego into a huge building," said one political scientist.

Given the closeness of Italy's latest election result and the consensus that the unity of Romano Prodi's coalition depends solely on its opposition to Silvio Berlusconi, no one is writing off the prospect of the Cavalier swashbuckling his way back to the premier's throne.

SUE LAWLEY After 18 impressive years of gently probing the life stories of famous people, Sue Lawley announced she was resigning as presenter of one of BBC radio's best-loved programmes, Desert Island Discs. She'll stand down in late August, a month after her 60th birthday. "It's one of the best jobs in broadcasting," she says, but after asking 750 people to select the eight discs they'd want on a desert island, she wants to "pursue new adventures." Full story

STUART ROSE Two years after becoming Marks and Spencer's chief executive, Stuart Rose celebrated a continued upturn in the company's fortunes with the declaration of a stronger than expected rise in sales. With other big High Street names struggling in a tough trading climate, Rose put M&S's success down to an improved product range and the major revamping of its stores. But he said it was "a journey" and declined to use "the recovery word." Full story

Prince HARRY Prince Harry was never under closer scrutiny, but came through with flying colours at a passing-out ceremony at Sandhurst which marked his commissioning as a Second Lieutenant in the British Army. Like most of the other cadets, he was watched by proud members of his family, one of whom, his grandmother, the Queen, brought a blush to Harry's cheeks as she spoke to him during her inspection. The prince will serve in an armoured reconnaissance unit. Full story

PEARL CORNIOLEY A 92-year-old woman whose work behind enemy lines was so effective that the Nazis put a substantial bounty on her head, has finally been honoured by the Royal Air Force. Pearl Cornioley, who led hundreds of resistance fighters after parachuting into France, turned down an MBE, saying it was "a civil decoration". But after being visited by an RAF squadron leader at her retirement home in France, Mrs Cornioley was given her Parachute Wings, 63 years after her heroism. Full story