Prince Aimone, Duke of Apulia
| Prince Aimone | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke of Apulia | |||||
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| Spouse | Princess Olga of Greece | ||||
| Issue |
Prince Umberto Prince Amedeo Princess Isabella | ||||
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| House | House of Savoy | ||||
| Father | Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta | ||||
| Mother | Princess Claude of Orléans | ||||
| Born |
13 October 1967 Florence, Italy | ||||
| Italian Royal Family |
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HRH The Duke of Savoy
HI&RH The Dowager Archduchess of Austria-Este Extended family
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Prince Aimone of Savoy-Aosta, Duke of Apulia (born 13 October 1967) is an heir apparent to the disputed headship of the House of Savoy. He has used the title Duke of Aosta since July 2006 when his father assumed the title Duke of Savoy and headship of the royal house. Until then, he used the traditional title of the eldest son of the Duke of Aosta, "Duke of Apulia (Duca delle Puglie)".
Education and career
Prince Aimone was born in Florence the second child and only son of Prince Amedeo of Savoy, Duke of Aosta and his first wife, Princess Claude of Orléans. Aimone attended the Francesco Morosini Naval College and Bocconi University. After he completed his education, Aimone worked at JPMorgan Chase in the United Kingdom. He also served a period in the Italian Navy. Since 2000, Aimone has lived in Russia where he works for the Italian company Pirelli.
Engagement, marriage and children
Engagement
Aimone's engagement to Princess Olga of Greece, daughter of Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark, was announced in May 2005. Olga and Aimone are second cousins; both being great-grandchildren of the French pretender Jean d'Orléans, duc de Guise. They are also second cousins-once-removed, as George I of Greece is Olga's patrilineal great-grandfather and Aimone's great-great-grandfather. The wedding date had been variously reported as 1 or 8 October 2005. In August 2005, it was reported that the wedding was to be held in the intimate setting of the isle of Patmos on 9 October, with fewer than fifty family members and guests invited to attend.[1] But the event did not take place and it is not clear if it was ever actually scheduled for that date. Aimone, in an interview with the Italian daily La Stampa on 8 July 2006, stated that he and his fiancée expected to marry in 2007. However, no wedding date was forthcoming, although the couple were occasionally pictured in society magazines attending monarchist and cultural events in 2006, and one such periodical, Point de Vue, affirmed that the couple were still betrothed at the end of 2006.[2] Speculation resumed in 2008 when a French journalist, Stéphane Bern, who specializes in royalty, wrote that Aimone and Olga will marry "in a few days" on the isle of Patmos.[3]
Marriage
The couple wed, after a three year engagement, on 16 September 2008 at the Italian embassy in Moscow, the city in which Aimone is employed. Their religious marriage took place on 27 September 2008 at Patmos,[4] where it was expected that the Patriarchal Exarch of Patmos, Archimandrite Antipas Nikitaras, would preside at the Church of the Evangelismos of the Virgin Mary at Pano Kambos, with a reception following on the site of a former school.[5] Since the Second Vatican Council marriages celebrated according to the rite of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, to which the exarchate belongs, may be recognized as canonically valid.[6] A canonical dispensation was obtained from the Catholic Archbishop of Moscow, Msgr. Paolo Pezzi, being the local Ordinary of prince Aimone.[7]
Present for the nuptials in Patmos were
- HM Queen Sofia of Spain (née Princess of Greece and Denmark),
- HM King Constantine II, former King of the Hellenes, with his consort
- HM Queen Anne-Marie of Greece (née Princess of Denmark),
- HRH Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark (bride's father), with his wife
- Marina, The Consort of Prince Michael of Greece (bride's mother),
- HRH Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark.
With the exception of 78 year-old HIRH Princess Margherita, The Dowager Archduchess of Austria-Este (née Princess of Savoy-Aosta), all members of the Aosta branch of the House of Savoy were in attendance, i.e.:
- HRH Prince Amedeo of Savoy, The 5th Duke of Aosta (bridegroom's father), and his consort,
- HRH Princess Silvia, The Duchess of Aosta,
- HRH Princess Claude d'Orléans (aka Princess of France, bridegroom's mother),
- HRH Princess Bianca of Savoy-Aosta, Countess Arrivabene Valenti Gonzaga (Aimone's first full sister),
- HRH Princess Mafalda of Savoy-Aosta, Madame Lombardo di San Chirico (Aimone's second full sister),
- HRH Princess Maria-Cristina of Two Sicilies (née Princess of Savoy-Aosta) (cousin of Aimone's father), with her husband
- HRH Prince Casimir of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.[8]
From the senior branch of the Italian royal family:
- HRH Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy (daughter of the late King Umberto II of Italy) was present,[8] as she had been at the Athens wedding of Olga's parents in 1965.[9]
Children
Prince Aimone and Princess Olga have three children, two sons and one daughter:
- HRH Prince Umberto of Savoy-Aosta, born on 7 March 2009 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.[10][11] On 9 March 2009, Prince Umberto was granted the title Prince of Piedmont by his paternal grandfather.
- HRH Prince Amedeo Michele of Savoy-Aosta, born on 24 May 2011 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. A day after his birth Amedeo was granted the title Duke of the Abruzzi by his paternal grandfather.[12]
- HRH Princess Isabella Vita Marina of Savoy-Aosta, named in honor of Princess Isabelle of Orléans, born on 14 December 2012 in Paris, France.[13][14]
Duke of Aosta
On 7 July 2006 Aimone's father, Prince Amedeo, assumed the headship of the House of Savoy and the title Duke of Savoy claiming that his cousin Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, had lost his dynastic rights when he married without the legally required permission of King Umberto II in 1971.[15] Since then Aimone has used the title Duke of Aosta.[16]
Ancestry
Notes
| Styles of Prince Aimone, Duke of Apulia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reference style | His Royal Highness |
| Spoken style | Your Royal Highness |
| Alternative style | Sir |
- ↑ Meylan, Vincent (31 August 2005). "Le Plus Royal". Point de Vue (in French): page 21.
- ↑ "Ils Sont Ensemble". Point de Vue (in French). 20 December 2006.
- ↑ (French) Le gotha, le site officiel de Stéphane Bern
- ↑ Unione Monarchica Italiana
- ↑ Koenig, Marlene (28 September 2008). "Royal Musings". Translation of Patmos Times article. Marlene Koenig. Retrieved 28 September 2008.
- ↑ Hubert Jedin, Konrad Repgen (1980). "The Code and Development of Canon Law to 1974". History of the Church: Volume X The Church in the Modern Age. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-86012-090-2.
- ↑ CronacaQui (26 September 2008)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Le nozze tra le LL.AA.RR. il Principe Aimone di Savoia e la Principessa Olga di Grecia". Sito Ufficiale della Casa di S.A.R. il Principe Amedeo, Duca di Savoia. Retrieved 28 September 2008.
- ↑ "Michel et Marina de Grece: Trente Ans de Bonheur". Point de Vue (in French): page 17. 11 February 1995.
- ↑ (Italian) Official announcement from the site of the Royal House of Savoy.
- ↑ (Italian)monarchia.it
- ↑ Comunicato Stampa del 25 maggio 2011
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1544253/Royal-cousins-fight-for-defunct-Italian-throne.html
- ↑ "Detronizzato Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia in favore del cugino". la Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno. 7 July 2006. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
External links
| Prince Aimone, Duke of Apulia Born: 13 October 1967 | ||
| Lines of succession | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Duke of Aosta |
Line of succession to the former Italian throne with the Prince of Naples as pretender 3rd position |
Succeeded by Prince Umberto of Savoy |
| First in line | Line of succession to the former Italian throne with the Duke of Aosta as pretender 1st position | |
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