Italy's culture minister resigns over affair scandal

Italy's culture minister resigned weeks after being caught in an adulterous affair with a younger woman who filmed their rendezvous with internet-connected smart glasses.

Gennaro Sangiuliano had tried to hold on to his job after being embroiled in the scandal that emerged last month, when Maria Rosaria Boccia started posting photos of the two of them at public events.

"After reflecting during these painful days I decided to irrevocably resign from my post as Minister of Culture," Sangiuliano wrote to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in a letter published by his ministry.

Meloni, in a statement, thanked him for his "extraordinary service."

Sangiuliano's departure comes less than two weeks before Italy hosts a meeting of culture ministers of the G7 group of industrialised countries, which Italy is presiding this year. 

Meloni has already named his successor, Alessandro Giuli, president of MAXXI, Italy's national museum for 21st-century art.

Earlier this week, in an attempt to hold on to his job, Sangiuliano gave a long and at times tearful television interview that was widely mocked in the press.

He tried to explain his relationship with Boccia, who has inundated social media with accounts of their affair.

He said it had started in May but insisted that he had put an end to it in "late July, early August." 

Boccia had posted late August online that she had been named a special adviser to the ministry, which he denied. 

She then started posting photos on social media sites of them together at various public events, as well as emails and boarding passes for flights.

In his interview, Sangiuliano showed bank statements to back up his assertion that he had paid for Boccia's travels, denying claims that he had used public money.

He also apologized to his wife and to Meloni.

Boccia told La7 television that Sangiuliani "deserved this job, he is very competent. I am truly sorry."

But she insisted that "I did not spy on the minister because I was working with the minister," who has said he will file a lawsuit against her.

"I am not afraid of any inquiry because I told the truth," she said. (AFP)