Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice and Piedmont

Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Prince of Venice
Spouse Clotilde Courau
Issue Princess Vittoria
Princess Luisa
Full name
Emanuele Filiberto Umberto Reza Ciro René Maria di Savoia
House House of Savoy
Father Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples
Mother Marina Ricolfi Doria
Born 22 June 1972
Geneva, Switzerland
Italian Royal Family

HRH The Prince of Naples
HRH The Princess of Naples

HRH Princess Maria Pia
HRH Princess Maria Gabriella
HRH Princess Maria Beatrice

Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Prince of Venice and Piedmont (Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia; born 22 June 1972),[1][2] is an Italian television personality, a member of the House of Savoy and the son and heir of Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples.[3][1] He is the only male-line grandson of Umberto II, the last King of Italy. Emanuele Filiberto uses the titles of pretence "Prince of Venice" and "Prince of Piedmont", neither recognized by the Italian republic.

Filiberto grew up as an exile from Italy, in accordance with the provision of the Italian constitution prohibiting the male issue of the Savoy kings of Italy from entering or staying on Italian territory.[4] 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.

He is married to French actress Clotilde Courau.

Early life and family

Emanuele Filiberto Umberto Reza Ciro René Maria di Savoia was born in Geneva, Switzerland, the only child of Vittorio Emanuele, head of the House of Savoy, and his wife, the former Marina Doria, a Swiss water ski champion.[5]

Filiberto married Clotilde Courau, a French actress and daughter of Jean Claude Courau and Catherine du Pontavice des Renardières, in Rome at the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels, on 25 September 2003. The basilica is where Filiberto's great-grandfather, King Victor Emmanuel III, married Princess Elena of Montenegro in 1896. Albert II, Prince of Monaco, who introduced the couple in 2003, was the best man. Approximately 1,200 people are thought to have attended the wedding.[6] The bride, then six months pregnant, wore a four metres long Valentino dress, a veil held in place by a diamond tiara and gems belonging to the House of Savoy.

Filiberto and Clotilde have two daughters:

Return to Italy from exile

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.[7]

Titles and honours

Filiberto is, by strict primogeniture in the male-line, the heir apparent of the House of Savoy, Italy's former ruling dynasty.[5] 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.[8] Emanuele Filiberto and his father applied for judicial intervention to forbid Amedeo from using the title "Duke of Savoy"; the court of Arezzo ruled in February 2010 that the Duke of Aosta and his son must pay damages totalling 50,000 euros to their cousins and cease using the arms of the Royal House, the arms of the Prince of Piedmont, and the name "di Savoia". The Duke of Aosta appealed the ruling.[9]

Foreign honours

House orders

Ancestry

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 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. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Enache, Nicolas. La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg. ICC, Paris, 1996. p.204
  6. ↑ John Hooper (26 September 2003). "Italy hosts rare royal wedding". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  7. ↑ Willan, Philip (24 December 2002). "Exiled Italian royals go home". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2008-04-10.
  8. ↑ Enache, Nicolas. La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg. ICC, Paris, 1996. p.213
  9. ↑ "Savoia sì o no? Giurista 'boccia' sentenza che vieta il cognome ad Amedeo". Tuttosport. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  10. ↑ Nomination by Sovereign Ordonnance n° 15703 of 1st March 2003 (French)
  11. ↑ Zakatov, A.N. "Recipients of the Russian Imperial Order of St. Alexander Nevsky". Russian Imperial House. Retrieved 25 December 2013.

External links

Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice and Piedmont
Born: 22 June 1972
Italian royalty
Preceded by
First in line		 Line of succession to the former Italian throne Succeeded by
Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta