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Anthony Albanese‘s secret Italian brother has revealed for the first time the close relationship he shares with the Prime Minister and why the politician is unable to visit his Italian relatives in Australia.
Ruggerio Albanese, 52, who lives in the coastal town of Barletta in the Puglia region, first met his now-famous Australian brother over 12 years ago.
Since then, the pair have kept in touch over WhatsApp where they share ‘funny things about their dogs and the beach’ with other family members.
Anthony and Carlo Albanese met one last time in December 2013, with Carlo dying a month later after telling his oldest child that ‘he was glad we’d found each other’
When Mr Albanese won the federal election in May, the group chat exploded with congratulations from Italy where his proud relatives watched celebrations on TV.
‘Thank you so much x’ Mr Albanese responded, to the group chat. The family have not heard from him since.
‘It was a great joy for us, we are proud of Antonio,’ Ruggerio told the Daily Telegraph.
The electrician hopes Albanese will visit them soon in Italy because they are unable to visit Australia due to other commitments.
‘For us it’s a bit impossible to go to Australia. My sister and I work a lot, busy all day working, as he is, and also we have mummy who is old (to look after),’ he explained.
‘I think he is very busy because he is a politician. When he started the mandate (as PM), because of the political commitment, he became more powerful and important and so … (we didn’t see each other anymore). I think he will come to see us soon.’
Anthony Albanese’s mother Maryanne (right) on the cruise ship Fairsky with the handsome Italian steward Carlo Albanese (standing, left) who secretly fathered her only son
Maryanne adopted Carlo’s name after their shipboard romance and pretended he’d died in a car accident. Pictured is the Sitmar line ship Fairsky where the pair met
At the age of 14, Mr Albanese discovered his mother Maryanne had lied when she told him that his Italian-born father had died years earlier in a car accident.
She had met his father while he was working as a steward on the Sitmar line ship Fairsky – where they had an affair despite him being engaged to another woman.
Maryanne’s relationship with Carlo had been brief, but in conservative early 1960s Australia she thought it wise to concoct the fiction of a marriage, adopt his surname and claim she was widowed even before their boy was born.
She returned to Australia and bravely raised Anthony on her own during a time when there was no pension for single parents, wearing a wedding ring purely for show.
Anthony Albanese married Carmel Tebbutt in 2000 with mum Maryanne (right) alongside
When Maryanne (above with Anthony) took him aside and told him the truth about his father, the young man did not want to go looking because ‘I didn’t want to do a disservice to her’
Mr Albanese was finally able to track down his father in 2009 and showed him photographs in a lawyer’s office in Barletta to prove their familial connection.
‘The door opened, he walked in and opened his arms to me and was embraced,’ Albanese said, tearing up at his recollection of the amazing moment.
‘It was incredibly generous of him I think, and it was a very poignant moment,’ Albanese told Leigh Sales on ABC TV’s 7.30.
‘He also brought, and I didn’t know I had them, my half-brother and half-sister, Ruggerio and Francesca.
Mr Albanese visited Barletta four more times to meet his nieces and nephews and was able to introduce his own son Nathan to his grandfather.
Ruggerio revealed his father hadn’t known he had a illegitimate son until he was shown the photographs back in 2009 and had been deeply moved.
The half-brothers last saw each other in 2013, but Ruggerio hopes the prime minister (pictured on Tuesday) will ‘come soon’ to Barletta to spend time with his nieces and nephews
Mr Albanese and his then wife Carmel Tebbutt and son Nathan meet his father, Carlo Albanese, in Italy in 2009
‘They were both moved, they cried,’ he said.
‘He was very happy of this, it wasn’t an ugly thing, even if it was not wanted, something good happened in the end and he (Anthony) wanted to find his father.’
The half-brothers last saw each other in 2013, but Ruggerio hopes the prime minister will ‘come soon’ to Barletta to spend time with his nieces and nephews.
Their father Carlo Albanese died in January 2014, having told his eldest child just months before that ‘he was glad we’d found each other’.
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