Ruby is belle of Vienna Ball

Belly dancer involved in Berlusconi sex scandal shakes up high society event

Ruby is belle of Vienna Ball

Belly dancer involved in Berlusconi sex scandal shakes up high society event

The TV cameras were told to ignore her and Austria's rich and powerful sought to avoid her.

But amid all the bling on display at the Vienna Opera Ball, most eyes were still on the woman at the centre of the scandal plaguing Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Austrian entrepreneur Richard Lugner and Moroccan-born pole dancer Karima el-Mahroug waltz while others look on. Karima is the life of the party

Ruby, aka Karima el-Mahroug, made an appearance at Austria's ball of balls as an invited guest, causing a sensation most of the guests present would have been happy to do without.

State TV was initially ordered to avoid covering her, but with the Berlusconi scandal big news, she was hard to
keep out of sight, let alone out of mind.

Ruby's comments on the eve of the ball added to Vienna high society's bad case of nerves.

"I can't waltz," she told reporters before pausing for effect, adding with a smile, "I can only belly dance."

For centuries, Vienna's high society has waltzed blissfully through wars, scandals and anarchists opposed to the moneyed decadence they think such events represent.

But it has never had to deal with an 18-year-old dancer said to have been paid by Berlusconi for sex while she was still under age.

Vienna's top priest was also drawn into the fray, citing scripture in favour of her attendance and the ball's organiser threatened to ban Richard Lugner, the quirky 78-year old millionaire who invited her.

Lugner's choice of Ruby after actress Bo Derek backed out was simply too much for some in Vienna, where parents of the upper classes still send their children to manners courses.

Lugner who is reported to have paid ufffd34,000 (Rs 25 lakh) for her appearance said he did not understand the fuss.

"If Berlusconi liked her, she's good enough for the Opera Ball," he said.

But ball organiser Desiree Treichl-Stuerkh, said she was a "prostitute involved in ongoing legal proceedings against Berlusconi" and as such, persona non-grata.

She said Lugner would not be given an opera box next year, adding her office had fielded calls from prominent ball-goers asking how they could avoid being filmed with the Moroccan teenager.

Wolfgang Lorenz, the state broadcaster's head of programming who issued the coverage ban, warned against "turning the festivities into a hookers' ball".

Rs 25 lakh
Amount paid to Ruby to accompany Lugner to the ball