Queen’s Berlusconi putdown hits YouTube

The Queen has become the latest star of the internet after footage of her chastising Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was posted on YouTube.

In the footage (see below), which was posted on the Italian version of the video-sharing website and subsequently went viral, the Queen is seen to be visibly irritated by Berlusconi as she poses with the world leaders  for the traditional post-summit group photograph. The Italian Prime Minister, eager to get Barack Obama's attention, can be heard shouting "Mr Obama, Mr Obama", prompting the Queen to ask "What is it? Why does he have to shout?" in frustration.

While the source of the footage is unknown, it became an internet hit within minutes of being posted and became front page news in Italy, where people have grown tired of Berlusconi’s blustering ways. The politician is renowned for his inappropriate and often rude behaviour that has seen him make a number of offensive and politically incorrect comments. Last year, he sparked outrage when he referred to Obama as "suntanned".

Although Buckingham Palace has said today that Berlusconi didn't cause any offence, if Her Royal Highness was upset she isn’t the only one. Sir Bob Geldof hit out at the controversial politician in the Financial Times.

Sir Bob called for Italy to lose its G8 presidency in July, claiming that Berlusconi has failed to deliver on the promises the country made to help alleviate world poverty at the G8 summit in Gleneagles. Writing in the Financial Times, the former Boomtown Rat said: "Italy must address this before the G8 meeting in Sardinia in July... If they do not come up with a viable plan, their presidency should be withdrawn. What is the point of having a country leading a meeting that has no intention of living up to its word?"

His comments are likely to offend the outspoken premier who once labelled a German MEP a "concentration camp guard" and who takes a rather laid-back approach to economic concerns. Just last week Berlusconi, who also happens to be a self-made millionaire, dismissed the current global recession as merely "psychological". ·