Italy bids farewell to the only son of Umberto II, the last Italian monarch

Italy is bidding farewell to the only son of Umberto II, the last Italian monarch. Victor Emmanuel, Prince of Naples, of the House of Savoy, was born in 1937, still in the reign of his grandfather Victor Emmanuel III. He died on 3 February 2024.

After the abolition of the monarchy in Italy in 1946 he left the country with his parents, and was unable to return until the 2000s. But the joy of being at home was short-lived for the head of the House of Savoy: in 2006 he was arrested in a tangled case involving fraud, corruption, forgery of documents and a number of other unpleasant episodes. Together with him, his cousin Simeon II, the last Tsar of Bulgaria, found himself beneath the steamroller of justice.

The high-profile proceedings ended in a series of reciprocal claims: the Duke of Savoy sued the Italian state for restitution, and the Italian state sued the House of Savoy over its role in bringing Mussolini to power.

The funeral ceremony for the late Prince of Naples was attended by members of his family and a handful of relatives from neighbouring monarchies

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

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Italy bids farewell to the only son of Umberto II, the last Italian monarch

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

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