Did King Victor Emmanuel II have a wife?
69818#13
In addition to his morganatic second wife, Victor Emmanuel II had several other mistresses:
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
69541#23
Having done much to improve the state of his inheritance in 1684, Victor Amadeus took the decision to abdicate in September 1730. The previous month the lonely king had lost most of his family, including his favourite and eldest son the Prince of Piedmont, and sought the security of a previous mistress Anna Canalis di Cumiana. The couple were married in a private ceremony on 12 August 1730 in the Royal Chapel in Turin having obtained permission from Pope Clement XII. Still attractive in her forties, Victor Amadeus had long been in love with her and as a wedding gift, created her the Marchioness of Spigno. The couple made their marriage public on 3 September 1730 much to the dismay of the court. A month later, Victor Amadeus announced his wish to abdicate the throne and did so in a ceremony at the Castle of Rivoli on the day of his marriage. His son succeeded him as Charles Emmanuel III.
Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
69818#1
Victor Emmanuel was born as the eldest son of Charles Albert, Prince of Carignano, and Maria Theresa of Austria. His father succeeded a distant cousin as King of Sardinia-Piedmont in 1831. He lived for some years of his youth in Florence and showed an early interest in politics, the military, and sports. In 1842, he married his cousin, Adelaide of Austria. He was styled as the "Duke of Savoy" prior to becoming King of Sardinia-Piedmont.
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
19450529#93
Rosa Vercellana, commonly known as "Rosina" and, in Piedmontese as "La Bela Rosin" ("the beautiful Rosin"), was the mistress and later wife of King Victor Emmanuel II. She was made Countess of Mirafiori and Fontanafredda, but never Queen of Italy. As the Savoy family refused to allow her to be buried next to her husband in the Pantheon, her children had a mausoleum built for her in a similar form and on a smaller scale in Turin, next to the road to the Castello di Mirafiori. The circular copper-domed neoclassical monument, surmounted by a Latin cross and surrounded by a large park, was designed by Angelo Dimezzi and completed in 1888.
Turin
69818#12
In 1842 he married his first cousin once removed Adelaide of Austria (1822–1855). By her he had eight children:In 1869 he married morganatically his principal mistress Rosa Vercellana (3 June 1833 – 26 December 1885). Popularly known in Piedmontese as "Bela Rosin", she was born a commoner but made Countess of Mirafiori and Fontanafredda in 1858. Their offspring were:
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
67709#9
However, Victor Emmanuel retained the title of king until his abdication in May 1946. Umberto then formally ascended the throne as Umberto II. It has been said that the abdication had been imposed by opponents, but the royal house, too, had an interest in the manoeuvre. It was convenient for the House of Savoy, in fact, to have a popular king "on stage" at that crucial moment. Umberto was more acceptable to the Italian people: he and his wife Maria José were young, elegant and cultivated, and presented a stark contrast to the old, rough Victor Emmanuel who was unknown for any particular activity, apart from his collection of coins (114,000 items). Umberto was relatively well received by the people from the moment of his crowning, even if his wife (a foreigner) was kept at some distance. He was commonly called "Il Re di Maggio" (the King of May), with reference to his brief rule of forty days.
1946 Italian institutional referendum
69847#15
In 1943, the Crown Princess Marie 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. Victor Emmanuel III was anti-clerical, distrusting the Catholic Church, and wanted nothing to do with a peace attempt made through papal intermediaries. More importantly, Victor Emmanuel was proudly misogynistic, holding women in complete contempt as the king believed that it was a scientific fact that the brains of women were significantly more underdeveloped compared to the brains of men. Victor Emmaneul simply did not believe that Marie José was competent to serve as a diplomat. For all these reasons, the king vetoed Marie José's peace attempt. 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.
Umberto II of Italy
69565#5
On 7 March 1802 Charles Emmanuel's wife Marie Clothilde died. He was so moved by her death that he decided to abdicate, June 4, 1802 in favour of his brother Victor Emmanuel. Charles Emmanuel retained the personal title of King. He lived in Rome and in the nearby town of Frascati.
Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia
69840#39
In any event, once the referendum's result was certified, Victor Emmanuel and all other male members of the House of Savoy were required to leave the country. Taking refuge in Egypt, where he was welcomed with great honor by King Faruk, Victor Emmanuel died in Alexandria a year later, of pulmonary congestion. He was interred behind the altar of St Catherine's Cathedral. He was the last surviving grandchild of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. In 1948, "Time" magazine included an article about "The Little King".
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
69541#4
Victor Amadeus was born in Turin to Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy and his second wife Marie Jeanne of Savoy. Named after his paternal grandfather Victor Amadeus I he was their only child. As an infant he was styled as the "Prince of Piedmont", traditional title of the heir apparent to the duchy of Savoy. A weak child, his health was greatly monitored. As an infant he had a passion for soldiers and was noted as being very intelligent.
Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
2740482#9
Massimiliano's son, the 2nd Prince Camillo Vittorio Massimo (1803–1873), married Princess Maria of Savoy-Carignano (1811–1837] in 1827, the head of whose family became Charles Albert, King of Sardinia four years later and his son, King Victor Emmanuel II (1820–1878), became the first King of a united Italy in 1861.
Massimo family