Papers will pay says Lollobrigida

Gina Lollobrigida has vowed to make the media pay for ruining her plans to marry Javier Rigau, a Spaniard 34 years her junior.

The 79-year-old film star said the couple had called off their wedding plans after Rigau was worn down by "endless attacks, slander and violence" from the media.

"It's a disgrace, it can't be allowed to go on," said Lollobrigida, who became a byword for sex appeal in 1950s Italian classics such as The World's Most Beautiful Woman.

The couple met at a party in Monte Carlo in 1984 and announced in October they would marry next month.