LUCIANO PAVAROTTI - PAVAROTTI'S WIDOW TO SUE

Nicoletta Mantovani, the widow of the late tenor Luciano Pavarotti, is to sue two of his friends for defamation.

Just weeks ago Ms Mantovani, 37, accused the Italian media of reporting "unseemly gossip" regarding her marriage to the opera great.

And after tabloid speculation continued, she has filed a law suit against Franca Corfini Strata, the wife of Pavarotti's dietician, and Lidia La Marca, spouse of the conductor Leone Magiera.

Allegations regarding Ms Mantovani's financial troubles have endured since the tenor's death, with the Italian media reporting that she has fought with the late singer's three adult daughters (from his first marriage) over his will.

Ms Mantovani, the singer's second wife, told RAI state TV in October that she wanted her daughter to recognise her mother had sought to defend the family from press gossip.

"I'm here and can defend myself. But Luciano can't, and Alice is a four-year-old child," she said.

She is seeking €15 million (£10.7 million) each from Mrs Strata and Mrs La Marca, but intends to donate any award to charity, according to her lawyer Anna Maria Bernini.

"Since the comments did not cease - and were, in fact, reiterated - Mantovani had no choice but to file the lawsuit," she said.

"She is doing it to protect her sense of respectability - privately for the sake of her daughter and the memory of the maestro, publicly for her image and any future professional activity."

Pavarotti died in Modena, northern Italy, in September, aged 71, having been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006.