The former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s coffin was carried across the city from his villa in Arcore to the Gothic Duomo.
It was decorated with white and red roses.
Even after his passing caused division in his nation because of the debate surrounding the government’s decision to observe a day of national mourning on Wednesday in his honor.
This cabinet includes members of his old party, age 86, Berlusconi passed away on Monday.
It is anticipated that several thousand mourners, including foreign dignitaries and Italian political leaders, would attend his state funeral, which is scheduled to begin at 1300 GMT in Milan’s Cathedral.
The billionaire tycoon will be cremated and his ashes held in a mausoleum he built for himself and his family in the grounds of his villa outside Milan, a source close to the family told Reuters.
The day of mourning is not a public holiday, but rather a symbolic tribute in which flags fly at half mast from public buildings.
The European Parliament and the European Commission also decided to pay their respects in this manner.
Around 2,300 people were expected inside the cathedral, including Meloni, President Sergio Mattarella and the leader of centre-left Democratic Party (PD) Elly Schlein.
A larger crowd was gathering in the square outside, with an argument breaking out between Berlusconi’s admirers and a woman who had come to criticise him.
Former Italian Prime Ministers Mario Draghi and Mario Monti, EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Iraq’s PM Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani were due to attend the funeral.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was also confirmed, but few other senior European politicians were expected.
