Umberto II of Italy

Umberto II, born Umberto Nicola Tommaso Giovanni Maria di Savoia, occasionally anglicised as Humbert II (full anglicised name: Humbert Nicholas Thomas John Mary, of Savoy) (15 September 1904 – 18 March 1983), was the last King of Italy, reigning for slightly over a month, from 9 May 1946 to 12 June 1946. However, he was de facto head of state from 1944 to 1946. He was nicknamed the May King (Re di Maggio).

Umberto was the only son of the four children of Victor Emmanuel III and Elena of Montenegro. In an effort to repair the monarchy's image after the fall of Benito Mussolini's regime, Victor Emmanuel transferred his powers to Umberto in 1944 while retaining the title of king. As a referendum was in preparation on the abolition of the monarchy in 1946, Victor Emmanuel abdicated his throne to Umberto in an unsuccessful attempt to gain support for the monarchy. Umberto lived out the rest of his life in exile in Cascais, Portugal and was not permitted to return to Italy to die in 1983.

Biography
Umberto was born at the Castle of Racconigi in Piedmont. He was the third child, and the only son, of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Queen Elena of Montenegro. As such, he became crown prince, with the title of Prince of Piedmont, upon his birth (the Italian throne was limited only to males). He was the first cousin of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia.

Umberto was married in Rome on 8 January 1930 to Marie José of Belgium (1906–2001), daughter of King Albert I of Belgium,.

They had four children:
 * Maria Pia (born 1934)
 * Vittorio Emanuele (born 1937)
 * Maria Gabriella (born 1940)
 * Maria Beatrice (born 1943)

State visit to South America, 1924
As Prince of Piedmont, Umberto visited South America, between July and September 1924. With his preceptor, Bonaldi, he went to Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile. This trip was part of the political plan of Fascism to link the Italian people living outside of Italy with their mother country and the interests of the regime.

In Brazil, he could not be received by President Arthur Bernardes because the capital of the country in that period, Rio de Janeiro, wasn't safe enough after the conclusion of the Revolta tenentista de 1924, when some junior military officials tried to overthrow Federal government. In São Paulo, the richest and most important state of the country, the rebels dominated the government for some days.

Under these conditions, Brazil could receive the Principe only in Bahia, the richest state of the North, at its capital Salvador. On his 20th birthday, Umberto was in Bahia. At that time, the governor of Bahia was Góis Calmon. All the authorities of state and the members of the Italian colony in the city were very happy and proud about the visit of the Prince. The Prince was accompanied on that trip by Minister of Foreign Affairs Felix Pacheco and the then Italian ambassador to Brazil, Pietro Badoglio.



Military positions and attempted assassination
The Prince of Piedmont was educated for 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 de facto command belonging to Benito Mussolini. By mutual agreement, Umberto and Mussolini always kept a distance.

An attempted assassination of the Prince took place in Brussels on 24 October 1929, the day of the announcement of his betrothal to Princess Marie José. The Prince was about to lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Belgian Unknown Soldier at the foot of the Colonne du Congrès. With a cry of 'Down with Mussolini!' the culprit, Fernando de Rosa, fired a single shot that missed the Prince of Piedmont.

De Rosa was arrested and under interrogation claimed to be a member of the Second International, who had fled Italy to avoid arrest for his political views. His trial became a major political event, and though he was found guilty of attempted murder, he was given a light sentence of five years in prison. This sentence caused a political uproar in Italy and a brief rift in Belgian-Italian relations. However, Prince Umberto himself in March 1932 took the step of asking for a pardon for his would-be assassin, who was released after having served slightly less than half of his sentence and was eventually killed in the Spanish Civil War.

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 publicly.

Following the Savoyards' tradition ("Only one Savoy reigns at a time"), he kept apart from active politics until he was finally named Lieutenant General of the Realm. Only in one case, while he was in Germany for a royal wedding, did he make an exception—Adolf Hitler asked for a meeting. This action was not considered proper, given the international situation, and afterwards Umberto was even more rigorously excluded from political events.



During the Second World War
On 29 October 1942, Umberto was awarded the rank of Marshal of Italy (Maresciallo d'Italia).

In 1943, the Crown Princess Maria José involved herself 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 was not (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.

Regency
As the Allies freed more and more of Italy from the puppet Salò regime, it became apparent that Victor Emmanuel was too tainted by his previous support of Fascism to have any further role. Accordingly, in April 1944, he transferred most of his powers to Umberto. This status was formalized after Rome was liberated in June, when Victor Emmanuel transferred his remaining constitutional powers to Umberto, naming his son Lieutenant General of the Realm. However, Victor Emmanuel retained the title of king.

King of Italy
Umberto earned widespread praise for his role in the following three years. In hopes of influencing public opinion ahead of a referendum on the continuation of the monarchy, Victor Emmanuel formally abdicated in favour of Umberto on 9 May.

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 had not yet been able to return to their own local areas to register. Nor had the issue of Italy's borders been settled definitively, so the voting rights of those in disputed areas had not been satisfactorily clarified. Other allegations were made about voter manipulation, and 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 and his wife were both young and cultivated, and thus presented a stark contrast to Victor Emmanuel. It was to no avail, however—in 2 June referendum, a decisive majority voted to make Italy a republic. The republic was formally proclaimed four days later, ending Umberto's brief 34-day reign as king. Many observers believe that had Victor Emmanuel abdicated sooner, the monarchy might have survived.

Having promised to accept the election results, Umberto accepted the defeat, urging his now-former subjects to serve the new republic. The monarchy of the House of Savoy formally ended on 12 June 1946, and Umberto left the country. Prime Minister Alcide de Gasperi assumed office as Italy's interim Head of State.

Private life
Umberto and Maria José separated in exile; it had been an arranged marriage, following a long tradition of royal families.

Some academics have explored Umberto's possible homosexuality. As early as the 1920s, Mussolini had collected a dossier on his private life for purposes of blackmail. Certainly during the war, newspapers asserted that Umberto was homosexual, and information continued to be spread in the lead-up to the post-war referendum on the monarchy in the hope of influencing the outcome. It is, however, unclear to what extent such rumours could be substantiated. Umberto's custom of giving a fleur-de-lis made of precious stones to favoured young officials in his entourage was well known, and Umberto's lovers may have included Luchino Visconti and Jean Marais; as a former army lieutenant who published details of Umberto's advances to him. Except for public appearances, Umberto and Maria Jose generally lived apart.

In exile
Umberto II lived for 37 years in exile, in Cascais in Portugal. He never set foot in his native land again; the 1947 constitution of the Italian Republic not only forbade amending the constitution to restore the monarchy, but until 2002 barred all male heirs to the defunct Italian throne from ever returning to Italian soil. Female members of the Savoy family were not barred, except queens consort.

He traveled extensively during exile, and was often to be seen in Mexico visiting his daughter Maria Beatrice, and in the company of friends like Commendatore Flavio Mansi Tazzer.

At the time when Umberto was dying, in 1983, President Sandro Pertini wanted the Italian Parliament to allow Umberto to return to his native country. Ultimately, however, Umberto died in Geneva and was interred in Hautecombe Abbey. No representative of the Italian government attended his funeral.

Honours

 * Grand Master of the Supreme Order of the Annunziata
 * Grand Master of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
 * Grand Master of the Civil Order of Savoy
 * Grand Master of the Order of the Crown of Italy
 * Knight of the Order of the Garter
 * Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece
 * Knight of the Order of Saint Hubert
 * Knight of the Order of Saint Januarius
 * Knight of the Order of the Elephant
 * Knight of the Order of the Seraphim
 * Knight of the Order of Saint Andrew
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky
 * Grand Cross of the Order of the White Eagle
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Anne
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Imperial House of Romanov)
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Carol I of Romania
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold I
 * Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
 * Bailiff Grand Cross of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
 * Knights of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri

Patrilineal descent
Ancestry and even the very filiation of Humbert I of Savoy is not clear, as there are four possibilities, one of them giving him a Teutonic ancestry including as his ancestor Widukind. Christian Settipani proved through contemporary documents that Arnulf of Metz and his ancestors were Frankish in the male line, since they were ruled by the Frankish Law.


 * 1) Humbert I of Savoy, 980–1047
 * 2) Otto of Savoy, 1015–1057
 * 3) Amadeus II of Savoy, 1039–1080
 * 4) Humbert II of Savoy, 1070–1103
 * 5) Amadeus III of Savoy, 1095–1148
 * 6) Humbert III of Savoy, 1135–1189
 * 7) Thomas I of Savoy, 1176–1233
 * 8) Thomas II, Count of Piedmont, 1199–1259
 * 9) Amadeus V, Count of Savoy, 1251–1323
 * 10) Aimone, Count of Savoy, 1291–1343
 * 11) Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy, 1334–1383
 * 12) Amadeus VII, Count of Savoy, 1360–1391
 * 13) Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy, 1383–1451
 * 14) Louis, Duke of Savoy, 1402–1465
 * 15) Philip II, Duke of Savoy, 1438–1497
 * 16) Charles III, Duke of Savoy, 1486–1553
 * 17) Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, 1528–1580
 * 18) Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, 1562–1630
 * 19) Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano, 1596–1656
 * 20) Emmanuel Philibert, Prince of Carignan, 1628–1709
 * 21) Victor Amadeus I, Prince of Carignan, 1690–1741
 * 22) Louis Victor, Prince of Carignan, 1721–1778
 * 23) Victor Amadeus II, Prince of Carignan, 1743–1780
 * 24) Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Carignan, 1770–1800
 * 25) Charles Albert of Sardinia, 1798–1849
 * 26) Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, 1820–1878
 * 27) Umberto I of Italy, 1844–1900
 * 28) Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, 1869–1947
 * 29) Umberto II of Italy, 1904–1983

Additional reading

 * Denis Mack Smith Italy and Its Monarchy (Yale University Press, 1989)
 * Robert Katz The Fall of the House of Savoy