Vrom his first wife Aduana, Pavarotti divorced after 33 years together, to the dismay of Catholic Italy. Nicoletta Mantovani, 34 years his junior, goes from his secretary to his new wife. When Pavarotti died of pancreatic cancer on September 6, 2007 at the age of 71, the Italians had long since forgiven him for adultery, and the whole of Modena, his birthplace and hometown, gathered behind his coffin.
At that time, his fortune was estimated at well over 100 million euros, and the young widow Nicoletta Mantovani had to live with the ugly suspicion that she had stolen the inheritance. Because his illness was already far advanced when Pavarotti made his young wife the sole heiress on June 13, 2007 and awarded only the compulsory portion to his three daughters from his first marriage, Lorenza, Cristina and Giuliana (all three older than Nicoletta). On July 29, 2007, a few weeks before his death, Pavarotti wrote a second will in favor of Nicoletta – perhaps because of her illness.