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Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, son of Umberto II, the last king of Italy, and Maria José, has died. He would have turned 87 on February 12th. His death occurred in Geneva. The announcement was made in a note from the «Royal House of Savoy». «At 7.05 this morning, 3 February 2024, His Royal Highness Vittorio Emanuele, Duke of Savoy and Prince of Naples, surrounded by his family, passed away peacefully in Geneva. The place and date of the funeral will be communicated as soon as possible.”
Pantheon guards: funeral in Superga
«Vittorio Emanuele wanted to be buried in Superga, as his son Emanuele Filiberto told me this morning. The funeral, we were told, will be celebrated on Saturday 10th at 3pm in Superga where he will be buried.” The president of the National Institute for the Guard of Honor at the Royal Tombs of the Pantheon, Ugo D’Atri, told ANSA.
Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, son of Umberto II, the last king of Italy, has diedView
A controversial personality
Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy was married to Marina Doria, with whom he had a son, Emanuele Filiberto. Pretender to the throne of Italy, for years in dispute with the dynastic line of Aimone of Savoy-Aosta, Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, was a controversial personality, marked by the murder of Dirk Hamer on the island of Cavallo in 1978, which changed his life forever. His full name is Vittorio Emanuele Alberto Carlo Teodoro Umberto Bonifacio Amedeo Damiano Bernardino Gennaro Maria and upon his birth he was immediately acclaimed as “the prince of the Empire” then recently proclaimed by the fascist regime. Vittorio Emanuele received the title of Prince of Naples together with the historical title of Prince of Piedmont. His father Umberto II had intended to abdicate to make him king but on 2 June 1946, the institutional referendum that gave Italians the opportunity to choose between monarchy and republic, made his possibility of ascending to the throne, contrary to the beliefs of the Savoys, disappear. throne.
The exile
On 12 and 13 June 1946 the government conferred the powers of the State to the Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi and from the entry into force of the Republican Constitution, on 1 January 1948, it was established that the male descendants of the Savoia family would have to go to exile with a ban on entry into Italy. Thus, the Savoys left the country and remained in exile between Switzerland, France and Corsica until the end of 2002 when they were able to return to Italy following the abolition of the constitutional rule which obliged the male heirs of the House of Savoy to exile.. In 2002, with a statement issued by Geneva, he officially distanced himself from the racial laws, for the first time in the history of the House of Savoy. Also in 2002, declarations were published in which he accepted the end of the monarchy: together with his son he swore in writing and unconditionally fidelity to the Republican Constitution and to the President of the Republic, thus explicitly renouncing any dynastic claim on the Italian State. In 2007 Vittorio Emanuele asked the Italian State for compensation of 260 million euros for the exile and the restitution of the assets confiscated in 1948. In 2022 he asked, however, for the restitution of the family jewels, which have long been kept in the treasure chests of Bank of Italy.
The family
Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy after 13 years of engagement, despite the opposition of his father Umberto, married Marina Doria in a civil ceremony in Las Vegas on 11 January 1970 and in a religious ceremony in Tehran on 7 October 1971. From his marriage to Marina Doria was born, in 1972, his son Emanuele Filiberto, who in the meantime had also become a well-known television personality.