Giorgio Napolitano’s time came on November 11, 2011: Silvio Berlusconi was at the head of a government paralyzed by internal disputes that had lost the trust of the financial markets and its European partners due to persistent mismanagement. The risk premium on Italian government bonds compared to German federal treasury bonds, the so-called “spread”, had risen to more than 500 basis points, and the country was heading towards insolvency. So Napolitano summoned the “Cavaliere” to the Quirinal Palace, the official residence of the Italian president, and asked him: “Do you and your government still have the strength to reverse the situation with convincing and drastic measures?”
Berlusconi, who has since also died, did not respond – two days later he returned to the Quirinal to hand Napolitano his resignation letter. The four-time former prime minister left the palace through the back exit; he never returned to higher government. In front of the main entrance to the Quirinal, hundreds of Romans celebrated Berlusconi’s fall by singing the party song “Bella Ciao”. At that time, Napolitano became the central and dominant figure on the Italian political scene, the organizing force of Roman chaos, the thinker and leader of the Republic – in short: “Re Giorgio”, or “King Giorgio”, as he was called by the Italians have since called it with respect and affection.