Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Prince of Venice

Emanuele Filiberto Umberto Reza Ciro René Maria di Savoia (born 22 June 1972)[1][2] is a member of the House of Savoy. He is the son and heir of Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy[3][1] and only male-line grandson of Umberto II, the last King of Italy.[4] In 2023, Emanuele Filberto announced his intention to abdicate his claim to the throne in favour of his daughter, Princess Vittoria of Savoy, when he feels she is ready to succeed. Until he formally does so he remains as his father's heir.[5]

For other uses, see Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy (disambiguation).
Emanuele Filiberto
Prince of Piedmont
Prince of Venice
2009
Born (1972-06-22) 22 June 1972
Geneva, Switzerland
Spouse
​
(m. 2003)​
IssuePrincess Vittoria
Princess Luisa
Names
Emanuele Filiberto Umberto Reza Ciro René Maria di Savoia
HouseSavoy
FatherVittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples
MotherMarina Doria

Emanuele Filiberto grew up as an exile from Italy because until November 2002 the Italian constitution prohibited the male issue of the Savoy kings of Italy from entering or staying on Italian territory.[6] Since returning to Italy, he has made many appearances on national television, including his participation as a contestant in Ballando con le stelle (the Italian version of Dancing with the Stars), and the Sanremo Music Festival.[7]

He is married to French actress Clotilde Courau.

Early life and family

Emanuele Filiberto was born in Geneva, Switzerland, the only child of Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, a disputed head of the House of Savoy, and his wife, Marina Doria, a Swiss former water ski champion.[8]

On 10 November 2002, he accompanied his father and mother to Italy, following revocation of the provision in the Italian constitution that forbade the male Savoy descendants of kings of Italy from setting foot in the country. On the three-day trip, he accompanied his parents on a visit to the Vatican for a 20-minute audience with Pope John Paul II.[9] He also appeared in a TV commercial for a brand of olives, in which he said they made you "feel like a king".[10]

On 25 September 2003 he married Clotilde Courau, a French actress,[11] at the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in Rome. The best man was Albert II, Prince of Monaco; among the 1200 guests were Valentino Garavani – who had designed the wedding dress – and Pierre Cardin.[11]

As of 2022, Emanuele Filberto has been leading an effort to gain ownership of the Italian crown jewels, which he claims belong to the House of Savoy, despite having previously said that he would not do so as "they are no longer ours".[12] The jewels are estimated to be worth $335 million and have been held by the Italian government since the abolition of the monarchy in 1946.[13]

Controversies

In 2015 Emanuele Filiberto engaged in a public spat on Twitter with aristocratic journalist Beatrice Borromeo who broke the story of his father's confession on video regarding the death of Dirk Hamer.[14] Vittorio Emanuele had sued the newspaper for defamation, but in 2015 after it won the case, Borromeo tweeted ''Vincere una causa è sempre piacevole, ma contro Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia la goduria è doppia![15] ("Winning a case is always nice, but against Victor Emmanuel of Savoy there is double the pleasure"),[16] and "caro @efsavoia goditi questa sentenza" ("dear @efsavoia enjoy this judgement")[17] which provoked Emanuele Filiberto to defend his father.[18][19] She had earlier confronted him on camera with a copy of a book on the murder by Hamer's sister, whose preface she had written.[20]

In 2018, following the release of polling data by the Istituto Piepoli that showed 15 per cent of Italians favoured the formation of a royalist party and eight per cent supported him as future king, Emanuele Filiberto said he was contemplating the launch of a political party to advocate for the restoration of the monarchy in Italy.[21]

Titles, styles and honours

Emanuele Filiberto is, by strict primogeniture in the male-line, the heir apparent of the House of Savoy, Italy's former ruling dynasty.[8] In June 2006 his distant cousin Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta, declared himself to be head of the house and rightful Duke of Savoy, maintaining that Vittorio Emanuele had forfeited his dynastic rights when he married Emanuele Filiberto's mother, Marina Ricolfi Doria, in 1971 without the legally required permission of his father and sovereign-in-exile, Umberto II.[22] Emanuele Filiberto and his father applied for judicial intervention to forbid Amedeo from using the title Duke of Savoy. In February 2010, the court of Arezzo ruled that the Duke of Aosta and his son must pay damages totalling 50,000 euros to their cousins and cease using the surname Savoy instead of Savoy-Aosta.[23] The Duke of Aosta appealed the ruling and the dynastic dispute is still unresolved.[24]

Succession

In June 2023, Emanuele Filberto announced his intention to abdicate his claim to the throne in favour of his daughter, Princess Vittoria of Savoy, when he feels she is ready to succeed. Until he formally does so he remains in as his father's heir. [25]

Honours

References
  1. Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser XIV. "Haus Italien". C.A. Starke Verlag, 1997, pp. 33, 38–39. ISBN 3-7980-0814-0.
  2. Willis, Daniel, The Descendants of Louis XIII, Clearfield Co., Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1999, p. 673. ISBN 0-8063-4942-5.
  3. de Badts de Cugnac, Chantal. Coutant de Saisseval, Guy. Le Petit Gotha. Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery, Paris 2002, pp. 602, 604, 622-623 (French) ISBN 2-9507974-3-1
  4. Italy's last prince is selling pasta from a California food truck - website of the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph
  5. "19-year-old influencer could be Italian queen after prince gave up the throne". 7 June 2023.
  6. C.E.D.R.E. Les Manuscrits du C.E.D.R.E.: Le Royaume d'Italie, volume I. Paris, 1992, pp. 89-93. French. ISSN 0993-3964.
  7. Passarin, Sara Greta (1 March 2022). "Chi è Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia". True News. (in Italian). Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  8. Enache, Nicolas. La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg. ICC, Paris, 1996. p.204
  9. Willan, Philip (24 December 2002). "Exiled Italian royals go home". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
  10. "Italy outraged by 'trash TV' attack". BBC. 20 January 2003. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  11. John Hooper (26 September 2003). "Italy hosts rare royal wedding". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  12. Giuffrida, Angela (25 January 2022). "Descendants of Italy's last king attempt to reclaim crown jewels". Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  13. "The House of Savoy, Italy's Former Royal Family, Wants Their Crown Jewels Back". Vanity Fair. 28 January 2022.
  14. Borromeo, Beatrice Il video che incastra Savoia, Il Fatto Quotidiano, 24 February 2011; "Il video che incastra Savoia - Il Fatto Quotidiano". 24 February 2011.
  15. "Beatrice Borromeo on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  16. Beatrice Borromeo, el azote de los Saboya, Hola, 10 March 2015; "Beatrice Borromeo, el azote de Víctor Manuel de Saboya". 10 March 2015.
  17. "Beatrice Borromeo on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  18. luise.wackerl (6 April 2015). "Beatrice Borromeo: Fieser Fight auf Twitter!". BUNTE.de (in German). Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  19. "Rissa social tra Emanuele Filiberto e Beatrice Borromeo". Today. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  20. Omicidio Hamer, Emanuele Filiberto dopo lo scoop del Fatto casca dalle nuvole, Il Fatto Quotidiano, 17 March 2011; "YouTube". YouTube.
  21. Mole24. 16 August 2018. Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia Pensa a un Partito Monarchico in Italia. Retrieved 18 July 2018. Italian
  22. Enache, Nicolas. La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg. ICC, Paris, 1996. p.213
  23. Squires, Nick (18 February 2010). "Italian aristocrat cousins fight over defunct throne". The Telegraph. Rome. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  24. "Savoia sì o no? Giurista 'boccia' sentenza che vieta il cognome ad Amedeo". Tuttosport. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  25. "19-year-old influencer could be Italian queen after prince gave up the throne". 7 June 2023.
  26. "The Constantinian Order's Relationship with the Savoy Dynasty of Italy - Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George". Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  27. Zakatov, A.N. "Recipients of the Russian Imperial Order of St. Alexander Nevsky". Russian Imperial House. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  28. Tangel, Col Andrew (28 August 2017). "Thanks for Making Me a Kentucky Colonel. What Do I Do Now? - WSJ". Wall Street Journal.
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