Never has a host had so little in common with her guests. Standing serene in a salmon pink trouser suit having topped the poll in the European parliamentary elections, Italy’s far-right leader, Giorgia Meloni, waited to greet her fellow G7 leaders. She stood on a small stage under an awning and an azure sky with the backdrop a suspiciously imported-looking olive tree, a pointless rustic water pipe and the brash G7 flags discreetly put to one side so they did not spoil the view’s centrepiece – Meloni herself.
To her right was a large stone arch that acts as the entranceway to Borgo Egnazia, the purpose-built “medieval” holiday complex giving celebrities an authentic sense of Puglia’s rural life, including a Michelin-starred restaurant, spas and wellness clinics.
