2024-02-10 05:55:01
Unlike his father 41 years ago, Victor-Emmanuel of Savoy, who died on February 3, will not be buried at Hautecombe Abbey, near Aix-les-Bains. The funeral of the son of the last king of Italy will take place in Turin Cathedral this Saturday, February 10. We explain to you why Savoy should never again house the graves of the descendants of the House of Savoy.
In 1983, some 40,000 people welcomed the remains of Umberto II, the last king of Italy, to his final resting place: Hautecombe Abbey located on the banks of Lake Bourget. As it was customary to do during the time of the absolute monarchy of Italy.
But, this Saturday, February 10, Victor-Emmanuel of Savoy, son of the last king of Italy who died on February 3 in Switzerland, will lie, unlike his father and mother Marie-José of Belgium, indeed on earth. Italian. We explain why.
“the reason is very simpleexplains the Savoyard historian, François Forray. In 2003, the Senate lifted the exile that had weighed on the royal family since the fall of the Italian monarchy in 1946. By extension, no member of the House of Savoy was therefore authorized to be buried on Italian soil..”
On February 2, 2001, the exile from Italian territory weighing on the Savoy dynasty having not been lifted, it was at the Abbey of Hautecombe (73) that around 3,000 people came to attend the funeral of Marie José of Savoy, the last queen of Italy • © MAXPPP
Until 2003, it was in Savoy that all the members of the former ruling family of Italy were buried. Like a return to the roots of the house of Savoy founded in 1125 by Amédée II. Several dozen Savoyard princes rest in the crypt of Hautecombe Abbey. From Humbert III to Philip I, for the oldest, via Charles Félix, to the last king of Italy, Umberto II and his wife Marie-José of Belgium.
Hautecombe Abbey, February 2, 2001: Victor Emmanuel of Savoy was accompanied by many crowned heads during the last major funerals hosted by the Savoyard abbey: including Juan Carlos of Spain, Albert and Fabiola of Belgium and Albert of Monaco. • © THIERRY GUILLOT / MAXPPP
Victor-Emmanuel returned several times to Savoy for funerals, but also for anniversary ceremonies of the founding of the dynasty.
“In recent years, I myself met him during a conference of historians in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienneexplains François Forray. Another place of memory for his family, since it houses the tomb of Humbert I White Hands, the founder of the dynasty. Behind the scenes, we talked about his state of health, which was already not great”.
An insignificant character. He does not deserve any recognition from Italian citizens.
M. Bresso, former president of the Piedmont region and V. Castellani, former mayor of Turin
The member of the Savoie Academy will not remember much more about this meeting. In Savoy, as in Piedmont, where he will rest, the news of the disappearance of Victor-Emmanuel, far from arousing an outpouring of compassion, seems to have, on the contrary, served as a pretext to recall the disenchantment between the royal family and its exes. -topics for many years.
A discredit that dates back to the fall of fascism: “Victor Emmanuel III, his grandfather, was fatally insignificant when in September 1943, fearing the consequences of the armistice with the allies, he left Rome hastily, without worrying about the fate of the population and his army, says François Forray. “And it was not Victor-Emmanuel’s tumultuous business life that restored the family’s image..
Paris, 1991. In the series of numerous justice and morals cases which punctuated the life of Victor-Emmanuel de Savoie, the image of his appearance, handcuffed, before a French court in the context of the accidental death of a German tourist in Corsica, contributed to further degrading the image of the son of the last king of Italy. • © GEORGES BENDRIHEM / AFP
The deceased’s desire to be buried in the Pantheon in Rome alongside the most illustrious of his ancestors, Vittorio Emmanuele II, the first king of unified Italy, will therefore not last long.
Overtaken by bursts of indignation, it is in Turin Cathedral that a mass will be celebrated on Saturday afternoon. A choice, “scoundrel” for certain editorialists, “naturel” for others who recall that the place, housing the Holy Shroud, is intimately linked to the history of the house of Savoy.
It is a basilica in Superga, (Turin) under a sky divided between gray and fog which should welcome the ashes of the son of the last king of Italy, next Saturday • © MAXPPP
To attend this funeral, some European crowned heads are expected including Albert of Monaco, Albert and Fabiola, the former sovereigns of Belgium. But others are still slow to make themselves known: no member of the Spanish crown should be present, according to the transalpine press.
“Savoyards will be here. But there won’t be very many of them, predicts François Forray. Qa few dozen people, at most. They will be the last representatives of conservative circles who still see, despite everything, a certain aura shining around the Savoyard dynasty.
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