Mr Berlusconi can be heard shouting "Mr Obama" at the end of a photo shoot with G20 leaders during last week's summit, despite the fact that the US President is close to him.

The Queen then turns around, flings her arm in the air and apparently says: "What is it? Why does he have to shout?"

Buckingham Palace played down the incident and described it "as a light-hearted, jovial moment marked by laughter. There were no gaffes and no offence was taken by anyone".

But the incident has been plastered across the front-pages of Italian newspapers, and one editorial described the apparent rebuke as an "embarrassment" for Italy.

Mr Berlusconi said it made him want to tell the press to "go to hell".

Mr Berlusconi has accused the Italian press of using "slander" and "disinformation" to paint him as a leader who repeatedly makes gaffes on foreign trips.

"Now it's impossible for one to go abroad, you drive yourself mad, doing the tour de force that I do and then to come home and see the Italian press that seems to have no other objective than to say that the premier has made gaffes or cut a sorry figure," he said.

"The thing that really upsets me is that the Italian press boycotts me.

"It makes one want to say: 'Go to hell'."

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