After five months Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy was buried in the crypt of the Basilica of Superga, in a passage area and not as requested by the family behind the altar of the Hall of Kings, which also houses the sarcophagus of Charles Albert of Savoy. The superintendency was categorical in refusing this option to protect the historical heritage of the place. But there are those who have seen in this “no” also a distancing from the princea life spent among scandals and controversies that were not exactly “real”. «He has no peace even when he is dead», sighed Ugo D’Atri, president of the guards of honor.
“I am destined for Superga,” the prince repeated when he reflected on the end, seeing in that place the goal that would have given him back that rank denied by history and also by his actions. But in the end even this “dream” of his was halved by a location in the Mausoleum that recognizes nothing but his surname. As if to say: “you are admitted but not too much.
The funeral chapel for Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy: in Venaria the pain of Emanuele Filiberto
Emanuele Filiberto does not want to “set fire” to the powder, or rather to the ashes, for him, life is elsewhere anyway. He recently launched into the financial business, with the launch of “real card”, a digital payment account. Because in the end that crown that is not there is still a useful brand for doing business.
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Yesterday the prince was alone to attend the burial; his mother Marina is not very well, and the daughters will come when there is the memorial mass on a date to be determined, probably after the summer. His wife Clotilde Courau did not arrive either, having remained in France and busy on a set. When the funeral took place in February, celebrated in the Cathedral, all eyes were on Vittoria, more interested in being an Instagram queen than the heir to the Savoy throne.
Emanuele Filiberto’s memory at the funeral of Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy: “My father between Naples and Turin”
A burial done in great secrecy, without even a photographer to immortalize the moment. Rain as the soundtrack to the farewell to the son of the last king of Italy, at the funeral and also yesterday, without a ray of sunshine to illuminate a life lived in the greyness of waiting, that of the return to Italy after a life of exile, and that of the “forgiveness” of the Italians.
A destiny that saw him leave Italy as a child, and choices that have traced a questionable path. The weight of a surname, “Savoia”responsible for having signed the racial laws, a crime never forgiven to the lineage, even if the sins of the fathers do not fall on the children.
Emanuele Filiberto was contested two days ago in Nervesa della Battaglia for the inauguration of a monument to the Unknown Soldier. Accustomed to this welcome, he commented diplomatically: “I have not seen any protests. Personally, I love them because they are like keyboard warriors: they end up in the newspapers, they make a big fuss and then I don’t see anyone. I want to find the time to talk to them and understand why do they have to discriminate against a person who was born in ’72, who has an important surname, but who comes here to pay homage». And again: «I thank them, I greet them and I hope to see them next time when I come to give the defibrillators, which thanks to the dynastic orders we were able to buy yesterday and which we will put in the squares right here».
And after Nervesa the Prince of Piedmont and Venice evidently had no desire to repeat his father’s burial at Superga. Better an intimate, low-key celebration, with what remains of the faithful monarchists, nostalgic for a small ancient world. In a press release the announcement of the burial: «His Royal Highness Prince Emanuele Filiberto – the press release concludes – thanks again, in addition to the institutions that have made it possible to respect the last wishes of the late Prince regarding his burial according to the tradition of the House of Savoy, all those who, in these months, have participated in the pain and mourning of the royal family, with particular gratitude to the many Italians – and, among these, to the many people from Turin – who have expressed their condolences».
And now Vittorio Emanuele rests in the same place as Amedeo d’Aosta, buried in the Hall of the Queens, the cousin who until the end contested with him the position of pretender to the throne of Italy. The point of no return between them was the brawl in Spain at the wedding of the then Crown Prince Felipe to Letizia Ortiz. “I saw my cousin, he had his back turned,” Amedeo said, “I patted him on the shoulder to say hello. He turned around and suddenly punched me twice. I didn’t react, Marina Doria arrived and took him away.” A dynastic quarrel buried with them, at Superga. The last act of what was a tragedy, at times a comedy.
