The Prime Minister’s hidden Italian brother, Anthony Albanese, has publicly acknowledged their strong kinship for the first time and explained why the politician is unable to go to Australia to see his Italian family.
In the seaside Puglia town of Barletta, Ruggerio Albanese, 52, first saw his now-famous Australian brother more than 12 years ago.
Since then, the two have remained in contact through WhatsApp, where they send their family members “interesting stuff about their dogs and the beach.”
The group conversation erupted with congratulations from Italy, where Mr. Albanese’s ecstatic family watched celebrations on TV, as he won the federal election in May.
To the group conversation, Mr. Albanese replied, “Thank you very much, x.” Since then, his family has not heard from him.
According to Ruggerio, “It was a big thrill for us, and we are proud of Antonio.”
Since they are unable to go to Australia owing to other obligations, the electrician hopes Albanese would pay them a visit soon while they are still in Italy.
“For us, traveling to Australia is a little difficult.” As he is, my sister and I work a lot and are always busy. In addition, we have an elderly mother to take care of.
He must be quite busy since he is a politician, in my opinion. We stopped seeing each other when he began his term as prime minister because of the political commitment that made him more influential and powerful. I anticipate that he will visit us shortly.
When Mr. Albanese was 14 years old, he realized his mother Maryanne had lied when she said his father, who was of Italian descent, had perished in a vehicle accident years previously.
She had first met his father when he was employed as a steward on the Sitmar line ship Fairsky, where they had an illicit relationship in spite of the fact that he was betrothed to someone else.
Maryanne and Carlo had a short-lived romance, but in conservative early 1960s Australia, she decided it was smart to fabricate a marriage, take his last name, and say she was already a widow when their son was born.
In spite of their being no pension for single parents at the time, she boldly moved back to Australia and heroically reared Anthony alone while wearing a wedding ring for show.
In 2009, Mr. Albanese was able to locate his father at last, and at order to establish their kinship, he presented him with pictures in a Barletta legal office.
Albanese cried as he recalled the incredible moment: “The door opened, he went in, extending his arms to me and was hugged.”
Albanese said on ABC TV’s 7.30, “I think that was really nice of him and it was a very moving moment.”
He also brought my half-brother Ruggerio and half-sister Francesca, who I was unaware I had.
Mr. Albanese made four further trips to Barletta to see his nieces and nephews and to meet his own son Nathan’s grandpa.
According to Ruggerio, his father wasn’t aware he had an unnatural son until he was shown the pictures in 2009. At the time, he was moved to tears.
He remarked, “They were both affected, they sobbed.”
Anthony wanted to discover his father, therefore he was overjoyed that this had occurred. It wasn’t a bad thing, even if it wasn’t intended.
Ruggerio hopes the prime minister will “coming soon” to Barletta to see his nieces and nephews since the half-brothers last saw one other in 2013.
Carlo Albanese, their father, passed away in January 2014, only months after telling his oldest kid that “he was delighted we’d met one other.”