Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia, the son of Umberto II, the last king of Italy, and Maria José, has passed away. The announcement was made in a statement from the Royal House of Savoy. He passed away peacefully in Geneva, surrounded by his family, at 7:05 AM on February 3, 2024. He would have turned 87 on February 12.
The location and date of the funeral will be communicated as soon as possible. Vittorio Emanuele, born in Naples on February 12, 1937, was the son of the last king of Italy, Umberto II, and Maria José. He was married to Marina Doria and had a son, Emanuele Filiberto. Vittorio Emanuele received the titles of Prince of Naples and Prince of Piedmont.
His father, Umberto II, intended to abdicate in order to make him king, but the institutional referendum on June 2, 1946, which gave Italians the opportunity to choose between monarchy and republic, ended his chance to ascend to the throne. The male descendants of the Savoy family were required to go into exile with a ban on re-entry into Italy. The Savoys lived in exile in Switzerland, France, and Corsica until the end of 2002 when they were able to return to Italy following the abolition of the constitutional provision obliging the male heirs of the House of Savoy to exile. In 2002, Vittorio Emanuele officially distanced himself from the racial laws for the first time in the history of the House of Savoy.
In the same year, he accepted the end of the monarchy and swore allegiance to the republican Constitution and the President of the Republic, explicitly renouncing any dynastic claims to the Italian state. Vittorio Emanuele has been involved in several scandals and faced many accusations. In the 1970s, he was investigated for international arms trafficking in certain Middle Eastern countries under embargo. He was also implicated in the shooting of a 19-year-old German, Dirk Hamer, on the island of Cavallo in Corsica.
Despite these accusations, he has been acquitted of all charges after a long legal process. We express our condolences to the Savoy family and those affected by Vittorio Emanuele’s passing.