Everything about Umberto Ii Of Italy totally explained
Umberto II, occasionally anglicized as
Humbert II, (
September 15,
1904 -
March 18,
1983) the last
King of Italy, nicknamed the
King of May (
Italian:
Re di Maggio), was born the Prince of
Piedmont. He was the third child of King
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and
Elena Petrovich of Montenegro. He served as the last King of
Italy for slightly over a month, from
May 9,
1946 to
June 12,
1946. He renounced the title of
King of Albania, which was held by his father after Italy's invasion of the country and personally asked
King Zog I for forgiveness for taking his throne.
He was married in
Rome on
January 8,
1930 to
Marie José of Belgium (
August 4,
1906 -
January 27,
2001). His children included:
- Maria Pia 1934-
- Vittorio Emanuele 1937-
-
Maria Gabriella 1940-
- Maria Beatrice 1943-
Prince of Piedmont
The Prince of Piedmont was educated to a military career and in time became the commander in chief of the Northern Armies, and then of the Southern ones. However his role was merely formal, the concrete command belonging to
Mussolini. By mutual agreement Umberto and Mussolini always kept at distance. It has been conjectured that Mussolini had collected a secret
dossier on Umberto, but this folder (which is said to have been found after the dictator was shot), was never seen.
Following the Savoyards' tradition ("Only one Savoy reigns at a time"), he kept apart from active politics until he was finally named the Lieutenant. Only in one case, while he was in
Germany for a royal wedding, did he make an exception,
Hitler asked for a meeting. This action wasn't considered proper, given the international situation, and Umberto was later even more severely banned from political events.
In
1943, the Crown Princess Maria José, the daughter of
King Albert I of Belgium, was involved in vain attempts to arrange a separate peace treaty between Italy and the
United States, and her interlocutor from the
Vatican was
Monsignor Giovanni Battista Montini, a senior diplomat who later became Pope Paul VI. Her attempts were not sponsored by the king and Umberto wasn't (directly, at least) involved in them. After her failure (she never met the American agents), she was sent with her children to
Sarre, in
Aosta Valley, and isolated from the political life of the Royal House.
Following the overthrow of
Benito Mussolini in
1943, King
Victor Emmanuel handed over his constitutional functions to Umberto, who was made
Lieutenant General of the Realm, and left Italy for
Egypt.
King of Italy
Umberto earned for himself widespread praise for his role in the following three years. Some believe that had
Victor Emmanuel III handed over the throne in 1943, the monarchy would have won the 1946 referendum on its survival. Victor Emmanuel's failure to do so proved to be one of his many major misjudgments.
Many Italian monarchists expressed doubts about the correctness of the referendum, claiming that millions of voters, many of them pro-monarchist, were unable to vote because they hadn't yet been able to return to their own local areas to register. Nor had the issue of Italy's borders, and so the voting rights of those in disputed areas, been satisfactorily clarified. Other allegations too have been made about voter manipulation, while even the issue of how to interpret the votes became controversial, as it appeared that not just a majority of those validly voting but of those votes cast (including spoiled votes), was needed to reach an outcome in the event the monarchy lost by a tight margin.
Umberto had by the time of the referendum become king, Victor Emmanuel having reluctantly and belatedly abdicated a few weeks before. Umberto served as king for 33 days. The monarchy formally ended on June 12, 1946 and Umberto became a king in exile, leaving Italy forever. Prime Minister
Alcide De Gasperi assumed office as Italy's interim Head of State.
Homosexuality
Umberto and Maria José separated in exile; it was indeed an
arranged marriage, following a long tradition of royal families, even if some observers alleged that she was really fascinated by her husband. However, Umberto's sexual interests lay elsewhere. As early as the 1920s Mussolini had collected a dossier on his private life for possible future blackmail. During the war newspapers asserted that Umberto was homosexual, and in the information continued to be spread in the leadup to the post-war referendum on the monarchy. Umberto's custom of giving a
fleur-de-lis made of precious stones to the young officials and lovers in his entourage was well known; they flaunted the gifts in public. Umberto's lovers may have included
Luchino Visconti and
Jean Marais; a former army lieutenant published details of Umberto's advances to him. Except for public appearances, Umberto and Maria Jose generally lived apart.
In exile
King Umberto lived for 37 years in exile, in Cascais in
Portugal, a popular old gentleman, nicknamed "Europe's grandfather", at many of Europe's royal weddings. While during Umberto's lifetime the 1947 constitution of the Italian Republic barred all male heirs to the defunct Italian throne from setting foot on Italian soil again, female members of the Savoy family were not barred, but out of respect for Umberto and his son, Crown Prince Victor Emmanuel, Maria José and her daughters declined to return to their native land, the exiled queen making her first return to her late husband's kingdom only in the 1980s. When it was revealed that the exiled king was terminally ill, President
Sandro Pertini, who as a young republican firebrand had played a leading role on the republican side in campaigning against the monarchy and Umberto, urged the Italian Parliament to amend the constitution to let the King return to die in his homeland. However, before this could happen, Umberto died. The funeral for the last King of Italy was held in Savoy, but no member of the Italian Government attended. Looking back later, former Prime Minister
Andreotti believed their absence a mistake and disrespectful to a decent and honourable man, who in different circumstances could have made a fine Italian king. Observers found Umberto to be always gentlemanly, affable and caring, with a deep love for his country. But by the time he inherited the throne, the monarchy, through its association with Mussolini and fascism, had been fatally undermined. The 980-year reign of the Savoyards in various duchies and kingdoms, first in Northern Italy, then over the whole peninsula, had come to an end.
Ancestors
Patrilineal descent
Umberto's patriline is the line from which he's descended father to son.
Patrilineal descent is the principle behind membership in royal houses, as it can be traced back through the generations - which means that if Umberto II were to have chosen an historically accurate house name it would have been
Ferreolus, as all his male-line ancestors were of that house.
Assuming the section between Humbert and Childebrand is correct, Umberto II was the last reigning monarch in the world to be descended from the Romans.
Ferreolus, b. 390
Tonantius Ferreolus (prefect), 412 - 475
Tonantius Ferreolus (senator), 445 - 515
Ferreolus, Senator of Narbonne, 470 - 531
Ansbertus, 520 - 591
Arnoald, 560 - 611
Arnulf of Metz, 582 - 641
Ansegisel, 602 - 662
Pepin of Herstal, 635 - 714
Childebrand, 684 - 751
Nivelon of Perracy, 725 - 768
Childebrand II of Perracy, 760 - 831
Theodoric I, Duke of Burgundy, 799 - 881
Richard of Autunois, 833 - 885
Garnier of Troyes, 870 - 925
Hugh, Count Palatine of Vienna, 900 - 948
Hubert of Vienna, 928 - 976
Humbert I of Savoy, 980 - 1047
Otto of Savoy, 1015 - 1057
Amadeus II of Savoy, 1039 - 1080
Humbert II of Savoy, 1070 - 1103
Amadeus III of Savoy, 1095 - 1148
Humbert III of Savoy, 1135 - 1189
Thomas I of Savoy, 1176 - 1233
Thomas II, Count of Piedmont, 1199 - 1259
Amadeus V, Count of Savoy, 1251 - 1323
Aimone, Count of Savoy, 1291 - 1343
Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy, 1334 - 1383
Amadeus VII, Count of Savoy, 1360 - 1391
Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy, 1383 - 1451
Louis, Duke of Savoy, 1402 - 1465
Philip II, Duke of Savoy, 1438 - 1497
Charles III, Duke of Savoy, 1486 - 1553
Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, 1528 - 1580
Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, 1562 - 1630
Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignan, 1596 - 1656
Emmanuel Philibert Amadeus, 2nd Prince of Carignano, 1628 - 1709
Victor Amadeus I, 3rd Prince of Carignano, 1690 - 1741
Louis Victor, 4th Prince of Carignano, 1721 - 1778
Victor Amadeus II, 5th Prince of Carignano, 1743 - 1780
Charles Emmanuel of Savoy, 6th Prince of Carignano, 1770 - 1800
Charles Albert of Sardinia, 1798 - 1849
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, 1820 - 1878
Umberto I of Italy, 1844 - 1900
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, 1869 - 1947
Umberto II of Italy, 1904 - 1983Further Information
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