Italian Madam admitting state returned for added notes (9)

I haven't cracked this one yet — but the brilliant team at Times for the Times have:

DONNA (Italian Madam) around (admitting) ÉTAT (state) reversed (returned) I believe this is what is known as a MER. Chambers lists ‘état’ as French. I suppose if an English dictionary lists a word as being French, that means it is used frequently enough. Still, feels like a bold move to use it without any indication. Fortunately, this was one of the puzzle’s easier clues.