Queen Marie Jose of Belgium

The woman who would become the last Queen of Italy, the “May Queen” was born HRH Princess Marie Jose Charlotte Sophie Amelie Henriette Gabrielle of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha on August 4, 1906 in Ostend to Their Majesties King Albert I of Belgium and Queen Elisabeth, Duchess of Bavaria, the youngest of three children born to the Belgian royal couple. To a large extent, much of the course of her life was set by the German invasion of Belgium in 1914 at the start of the First World War. Princess Marie-Jose, only eight-years-old at the time, was sent to school in the relative safety of England while her parents stayed at the front where the Belgian army tenaciously held on to the last unconquered corner of their country. The little princess would regularly go and visit and her parents, while careful of her safety, made no effort to shield the little princess from the hard facts of reality. Even at the age of 12 she was helping her mother the Queen in the field hospital making bandages for the wounded soldiers. The war impacted Princess Marie-Jose in a number of ways. It cemented her idolization of her father as the heroic King who stood firm for the independence of his country in the face of overwhelming odds, it embedded in her a lifelong distrust of Germany and it narrowed the possibilities for who her future husband might be. Belgium and Italy were the only Catholic monarchies on the Allied side and, after the war, about the only Catholic kingdoms left at all. So, while she was still very young it was decided that the Princess would one day marry the Savoy heir-to-the-throne HRH Prince Umberto of Piedmont.


World War I, and all the horrors and ugliness associated with it, may also have helped instill in Princess Marie-Jose a greater love for the opposite; for beauty, beautiful art, beautiful music, for a more liberal world and a total aversion to conflict and bloodshed. With the course of her life set before her, she looked toward the future hoping for the best. The Prince of Piedmont was already known as one of the most handsome young royals in Europe and as Princess Marie Jose grew up she developed a rather unrealistic expectation of the Savoy heir as the perfect prince charming, an image encouraged by those around her. In fact, the two had vastly different backgrounds and upbringings. Princess Marie Jose loved to play with her father as a child and, particularly through the influence of her mother, was given a very liberal education, an appreciation for simplicity, tolerance and new ideas. Prince Umberto, on the other hand, was raised to be a soldier, given a military education, had the glorious family history of the House of Savoy stressed upon him and his duty to carry on that illustrious legacy. Interactions with family were kind but correct and it had not be so long ago that royal children were still required to bow in the presence of their father the King and address him by his royal title. Things were not quite that formal for Umberto but undoubtedly the history, forms and grandeur of the monarchy were stressed much more heavily in Rome than in Brussels. The princess was an informal girl who very much ‘marched to the beat of a different drummer’. When thinking of Italy she most likely envisioned the romantic aspects; the art, the music and the way the ordinary people loved life. She was probably not quite so prepared for the orderly, regimented court and elaborate ceremony of the Savoy monarchy.

The time finally came on January 8, 1930 when the glamorous Belgian Princess was married, in Rome, to her tall and dashing Italian prince. It was a lavish, colorful ceremony, planned to awe and inspire but it was something of an ordeal for the new Princess of Piedmont. She would have preferred something simpler but Prince Umberto, fastidious himself, was determined that the ‘look’ of the event would be one all Italians would always remember. The new couple did have some things in common. They were devoted Catholics, they dreamed of a glorious future for the Italian people and they were both compassionate and good-hearted individuals. Aside from that, there were not many things they shared. For Princess Marie-Jose, the vibrant, outgoing free spirit, there was also the fact that she had married into the Italian Royal Family during the Fascist era and with her background, attitude and character, she clashed with the brutish dictator from the very start. Mussolini disliked everything about her, from the way she spelled her own name (she refused to convert to the Italian version out of nationalism) to how she dressed (Fascists preferred a more dour and matronly appearance) and he certainly didn’t like her ideas on freedom, tolerance and the sort of liberal, artistic people she surrounded herself with. Of course, Princess Marie Jose was just as repelled by everything Mussolini stood for, be it his bombastic, crude manners, his love of war or his fawning friendship with Germany.

Because of this, Princess Marie Jose was not to have the wedded life of her dreams. Her unconventional ways were hard for the Italian Royal Family or her husband to understand and the Fascist press took every opportunity to criticize her and the Prince of Piedmont as well since they regarded him as being insufficiently supportive of the Fascist Party as well. One thing Princess Marie Jose did have in common with her husband was a sincere Catholic faith. She visited St Padre Pio and was very supportive of Church endeavors. Her fashionable ways made her a trend-setter in Roman society, which infuriated the Fascists who did everything they could to smear her reputation. Because no children were immediately forthcoming they accused the Princess of being cold, immoral and having only a “show” marriage. This, of course, was not true and the Prince and Princess of Piedmont eventually had four children. They mocked the Princess for her appearance, accusing her of being unattractive and the absurdity of that can be seen by all simply by looking at her photographs. All of this had to be done subtly and “unofficially” of course because the Italians would not stand for attacks on the Royal Family but the ugly stories the Fascists put out worked their way into society. The Princess was accused of being a “traitor” to Italy when in fact she only opposed the Fascist regime and their aggression. She was always supportive of Italy and always supported the Italian troops that were sent off to war.

Princess Marie Jose served as President of the Italian Red Cross after 1939 and was greatly alarmed by the outbreak of World War II. According to Count Ciano (who also opposed the German alliance) he promised and did tell her when he first he learned of the German plan to invade Belgium so that she might warn her brother King Leopold III, though it did little good. When Italy joined the war, the Princess of Piedmont joined the Queen and other royal ladies in working tirelessly to nurse the wounded and frostbitten soldiers from the front where Prince Umberto held nominal command over the forces that invaded France. Never lacking in courage, she even tried to intervene with Adolf Hitler to obtain the release of Belgian prisoners of war. Showing no lack of devotion to the Italian troops either, Princess Marie Jose nonetheless cultivated her contacts with liberals, anti-Fascists and even some on the far left to try to arrange peace talks with the Allies through the Vatican. The King had no idea this was going on, Prince Umberto did but could not become directly involved for constitutional reasons, however the Fascist authorities certainly had their suspicions and put the Princess under ever increasing scrutiny. The main effort the Princess made in this direction was in 1943, the year that the Allies invaded Sicily and the Princess worked through Monsignor Giovanni Battista Montini, who would later become Pope Paul VI. However, too little progress was made over too great a time and the Princess and her four children were sent to the far north, removed from court but placed close to the Swiss border, making it easier to escape to safety.


When Italy was divided between the Allied occupation in the south and the Nazi-backed Fascist puppet state in the north, Princess Marie Jose took her children and escaped over the border but continued to support the fight against the Nazis by smuggling weapons and supplies to the partisans (which included communist and also non-communist anti-Fascist groups). One partisan group even wanted to name her their “commander” but she declined the offer. When her husband succeeded to the throne on May 9, 1946 as King Umberto II, the couple reunited in Rome where she briefly reigned as Queen consort of Italy. Although there was really no romance at all between the two anymore, both were people of duty and were committed to putting their own problems aside for the good of the country. However, from the very start the new King and Queen faced a combined opposition made up of the communists on one side and the ambivalent Allies on the other. The communists attacked the King Umberto II and Queen Marie Jose by often using the propaganda first dreamed up by the Fascists. Again, some of this has gained acceptance in the popular portrayal of the “May Queen”. Some, for example, have come to believe that she was an extremely reluctant Queen consort, very gloomy and resigned to the total collapse of the Kingdom of Italy. However, the truth was quite the contrary. Queen Marie Jose was under no illusions about the difficulties Italy faced but she envisioned something much better, lifting the people out of the ruins of the war and restoring the glory, beauty and creativity, artistic and scientific of the Renaissance period.

However, at the moment, Italy was devastated and the only ones with real strength were those with foreign assistance and this meant the anti-monarchists, particularly the communists who were backed by the Soviet Union. King Umberto II and Queen Marie Jose were the targets of a great deal of vicious propaganda, spread by the communists but often originating from the Fascists. The monarchists tried to get support from the Allies (primarily Britain and America) but none was forthcoming. Rumors were also spread about the political opinions of Queen Marie Jose, implying that she herself was a revolutionary and did not want the monarchy to continue. This was, of course, absurd. The Queen was interested in politics only insofar as it had an impact on the people and society but she was never ideological. The fact that she was friends with figures from the far left was used by dishonest people to construe that she shared their political views completely. That was certainly not true, she was an out-going woman with a large circle of friends and no political litmus test on who she would associate with. In the end, a referendum was held on the future of the monarchy and the republicans controlled the vote. It was, therefore, fairly easy for them to use a variety of underhanded methods to ensure that the result was in their favor. Some urged King Umberto II to raise his flag in the staunchly monarchist south and contest the results but after all the horrors of World War II, he refused to be responsible for causing an Italian civil war. Without abdicating, the King and Queen left Italy.

After stopping first in Egypt, Umberto II settled in Portugal but Queen Marie Jose was suffering from a number of health problems and her doctors advised her that the Portuguese climate was not good for her. She was also having trouble with her vision and so moved to Switzerland to be near a noted ophthalmologist and where the climate was better. King Umberto II could not go with her as he was prohibited from either entering Italian soil or living in any country bordering Italy. In any event, the couple had remained together mostly for the sake of their duty to the country and the benefit of their children. So, there was a separation but the two never divorced, it being against their religious convictions and in the unlikely chance that the Italian monarchy might be restored and they be called to resume their posts. Queen Marie Jose devoted her time to her love of music (she had the talent of a concert pianist) and learning, writing a number of books on the long history of the House of Savoy. Eventually she moved to Cuernavaca, Mexico to be near her daughter Princess Marie-Beatrice and her children and was able to see some of the former residences of her great-aunt Empress Carlota of Mexico. She was also always glad to help aspiring musical talents and learn about local history and culture. She longed to return to Italy but was only able to after the death of her husband. Marie Jose, the last Queen of Italy, passed away herself in Geneva on January 27, 2001 from lung cancer at the age of 94. Still a beloved figure, her funeral was attended by, as well as her own children and grandchildren, her nephew King Albert II of the Belgians, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, Hereditary Prince Albert of Monaco and many, many others.

She had not had an easy life, although much of it looked very glamorous. Her childhood was dominated by war, her marriage was not a very happy one, another war ruined her hopes for the future and she was forced to leave her adopted country. Relations with her children were not always the best afterwards and she was often lonely. However, she endured it all as simply part of the duty that accompanies royalty. Her mother had given her curiosity, compassion and an open mind. Her father had given her courage, devotion to duty and a ‘never quit’ attitude. She was a great lady and would have undoubtedly been a great Queen. It is to the detriment of Italy that she was not given a chance to fully prove herself in that role.

Queen Margherita of Savoy

Margherita of Savoy, the future Queen consort of Italy, was born on November 20, 1851 in Turin to Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa, and Princess Elisabeth of Saxony. She was a granddaughter of the famous King Carlo Alberto of Piedmont-Sardinia who introduced constitutional monarchy to the Italian peninsula and, in many ways, started the effort to ensure that the unification of Italy would have a monarchist (rather than a republican) outcome. She grew to be a refined, well mannered but lively girl, well educated and, like all members of the House of Savoy, very much impressed, from her earliest days, with the history of her dynasty and of her duty toward it. It was thus with no love or eagerness but rather that sense of devotion to duty that prevailed in her marriage to her first cousin Crown Prince Umberto on April 21, 1868. The Prince of Piedmont was no more anxious to marry her. The first bride chosen for him, a Hapsburg in keeping with tradition, had died in a tragic accident, though he had not been enthusiastic about that arrangement either. However, with Umberto and Margherita their devotion to duty came first and though there was never really any great love between them, Margherita determined to be the best royal consort she could be and compensate for those areas in which her husband was at a disadvantage.

One year later, on November 11, 1869 the new Princess of Piedmont did her duty and gave birth to an heir to the throne, the future King Vittorio Emanuele III. It was a case of “mission accomplished” and the two never had anymore children. Still, they complemented each other well. Umberto was the quiet, solid soldier while Margherita was the charming, talkative one who memorized Dante and adored music and entertaining. When Rome became the capital of Italy the aristocracy divided into two mutually hostile camps; the “White Nobility” who embraced the Italian monarchy and the “Black Nobility” which remained loyal to the Pope in refusing to recognize the new state of affairs. For those occasions when there was a reconciliation of one family or another it was largely thanks to the efforts of Princess Margherita. In 1878 her husband succeeded his father as King Umberto I and Margherita officially became Queen of Italy, a position she took extremely seriously, even if it did not always seem so. The Queen, however, understood that appearances matter and she knew how to use the social sphere to its best advantage, winning over the elites and the common people alike through her mastery of good entertaining and the appropriate behavior for any occasion.

No one would deny that Queen Margherita had a winning personality and was almost instantly extremely popular with the Italian people. When she and King Umberto first arrived in Rome to take up residence in the Quirinale Palace, huge crowds stood in the pouring rain to greet them. They roared with delight as Margherita had the canopy removed from the carriage, drenching herself and her husband, but allowing her to stand up and greet the crowds. They had all stood in the rain to see her and she would not see them disappointed because of little dampness. Her soft beauty no doubt added to her popularity but she was the not the sort to abide sycophants. The Queen, unlike most Italians, was fair-haired and blue eyed but she reacted quite angrily to any who tried to flatter her by extolling the racial superiority of north Europeans over the Latins of the south. The Queen was Italian to the core and would display nor tolerate the slightest talk that might divide the newly united country. Even though Italian had not been her first language as a child, she was as ardent a patriot as could be imagined.

When in public the Queen was always a uniting figure, saying all the right things and never saying anything that might be divisive. Yet, privately, all who knew her knew that she had very strong social and political opinions. Compared to her conservative husband she was positively reactionary (which is a good thing of course) but she also knew how to get along with everyone and would even dance with politicians of the far left at court functions. The Queen despised parliament as a troublesome talking shop but was intelligent enough to know that the monarchy would have to get along with it. She was among those who reacted with great anger when Italy allowed France to beat them to the annexation of Tunisia and she generally favored a strong and aggressive foreign policy, being one of many who held that Italy would not be taken seriously by the other more well-established powers of Europe until they won a significant war. She had such a reputation for patriotism that a special pizza was named after her which featured green, white and red toppings.

Queen Margherita was much more well rounded than most would assume of someone who held such strident views. She was intelligent, spoke Latin fluently, well-read and played the piano. She enjoyed the arts, intelligent conservation and the company of well educated people. During her time, she made her salon a center of artistic and intellectual lights and so won many people from diverse walks of life to supporting the monarchy, even some who had previously been adamantly opposed to it. Her grace and charm were legendary, impressing even Queen Victoria whose impeccably high standards made her a woman rather hard to impress. She founded several societies dedicated to the study of Italian literature, was patron of numerous charities and was most highly involved in the Italian Red Cross. The Queen was also brave enough to do a little mountain climbing, there being few experiences she was not open to. She was a very religious woman, zealously devoted to her royal house and, though she never had nor sought much political influence, advocated the pursuit of Italian greatness and the glory of the Savoy monarchy. It was, for this reason, that she was an ally of Prime Minister Francesco Crispi who pursued a policy of development and expansion.

When King Umberto I was assassinated Queen Margherita was extremely distraught but quickly took charge of things. She composed a special liturgical prayer for her husband in the form of a rosary extolling the sufferings and goodness of her late husband. She requested that it be recited in all the churches of Italy but, though the Bishop of Cremona endorsed it, the Pope overruled him as the Holy See was still officially ignoring the Kingdom of Italy. Nonetheless, it became popular and spread amongst the people, touched by the words of a devoted wife and thus Queen Margherita cemented in the public mind the image of her husband as “King Umberto the Good”. The dazzling, cultured Queen consort from then on became the mournful, but still strong, widowed Queen Mother. Her ardent patriotism was still very much on display during the First World War and she deplored the chaos that followed. Her sympathy for Mussolini and the Fascist Party has been greatly overstated in more recent years. The Queen mother knew little about him but appreciated a strong, dynamic force in politics that would bring stability and strength to Italy. For someone so committed to the House of Savoy, if she had known more about the republican past of Mussolini she would certainly have been horrified. Still, the Fascists had made an effort to ingratiate themselves to the nationalists and monarchists and the “quadrumvirs” made a show of coming to call on the admired Queen mother before setting out for their March on Rome in 1922.

Queen Margherita did not live long enough to see much of fascist governing first-hand. She would not see the Kingdom of Italy reach its apex of expansion but she was also spared the downward spiral and eventual fall of the monarchy she so dearly loved. Queen Margherita of Savoy died in Bordighera on January 4, 1926 at the age of 74.

Queen Elena of Montenegro

It might seem strange to some that virtually every King of Italy seems controversial in some way and yet virtually every Queen consort of Italy seems to have been widely beloved and respected. Such was certainly the case with Queen Elena of Montenegro, consort to King Victor Emanuel III of Italy. She was born Princess Jelena Petrovic-Njegos of Montenegro on January 8, 1873 to Prince Nicholas I of Montenegro and his wife the Princess Milena Vukotic, the fifth of nine children. With the rest of her siblings she was raised in the Serbian Orthodox Church and this caused some major problems when, as a young lady, she married the very Catholic Prince of Naples, heir to the Italian throne. In fact, her conversion to Catholicism had to be done on a boat in the sea between the two countries and her mother was so offended by her daughter becoming Catholic that she refused to attend the wedding. However, she gained quite a bit of attention when she arrived in Italy with her exotic background, striking features and (like most) standing quite a bit taller than her husband.

The couple had met in Venice where the Prince of Montenegro mentioned that the Prince of Naples was looking for a wife, however it was in Russia that the paths of the two later crossed and where it had first been thought that the princess might have found an Orthodox husband. In 1888 the Tsarevich invited her to a ball at St Petersburg and some began to whisper that it might have been her rather than Alix of Hesse who would one day become Tsarina. However, at the ball she was rather too popular on the dance floor and sparked a fight that led to a duel between Prince Arsen of Serbia and Baron Carl Gustav von Mannerheim of Finland (who was wounded). This left a rather bad impression on the Russian court, nonetheless it was at the later coronation of Tsar Nicholas II that she met the Prince of Naples and the two were immediately love struck. The formidable Queen Margherita was more concerned with the diversity of the royal bloodline (fearing too many cousins being married) and so warmly encouraged the match.

The two were married on October 24, 1896 and in 1900, after the assassination of King Umberto I, her husband became King Victor Emmanuel III and she became Queen consort of Italy. In 1901 she gave the King his first child, a daughter, followed by another in 1902, a son and heir in 1904 and two more daughters in 1907 and 1914. The King and Queen had a very happy marriage, the couple were very devoted to each other and the King would bring his wife roses from the garden every morning he collected himself. She was not totally without her detractors in Italy but she devoted herself to her new country, her people and her family. If there is one word to describe Queen Elena it is charitable. Almost her entire royal allowance, as soon as it was given, would be distributed by her amongst the poor. She was so generous in fact that the King could look quite stingy by comparison, something which was not lost on the Italian monarch. By nature a practical and frugal man he remarked once that if he were not so careful about his money the Queen would reduce them to poverty by giving it all away to the poor.


It was no empty gesture when she set an example for Italian wives in giving up her gold wedding rings to aid the war effort in Africa when the League of Nations had put a trade embargo on Italy. Of course, the Fascists had arranged the whole thing but, in time of war, country came first and Queen Elena led the other ladies of the Royal Family in being the first to sacrifice. After dropping her cherished rings into the urn, replacing them with iron “patriotic” rings, she said, “These rings, symbols of our first joys, symbols of our extreme renunciation now, make the purest offering to our country. With them we invoke before God victory for the young sons of Italy who defend rights which are sacred. We pray for the triumph of Roman civilization in Africa.” This was, for the Queen, national and not political and, unlike her mother-in-law who was suspected of fascist sympathies, Queen Elena stayed away from politics for the most part. Her only intervention of any significance was when she urged the King to press Mussolini for the creation of an independent Kingdom of Montenegro in 1941 as her homeland had previously been absorbed by Yugoslavia after World War I. The Queen also intervened, after the German takeover of former Italian areas, to obtain the release of Prince Michael of Montenegro from German captivity after he refused to collaborate with the Nazis. She was, alongside her husband, as a result of the war briefly Queen of Albania and Empress of Ethiopia but these titles were renounced in 1943.

Few other royals lost as much as the Italians in World War II and any efforts to smear their character by the political associations of the Italian government with Nazi Germany should always be taken alongside the fact that the King and Queen of Italy lost one of their daughters to Nazi persecution as Princess Mafalda was killed in 1944 in the concentration camp at Buchenwald. When everything came to an end for Italy regarding World War II and the fascist era, some allege that it was the Queen who convinced the King to flee Rome, causing some to accuse her of dooming the monarchy by that action. However, it would be hard to believe that she was solely responsible and, in any event, circumstances left very little choice with most of Italy in the hands of the Nazis and the fascist remnant that instantly became the implacably hostile to the Savoy monarchy. Ultimately, as we know, the Italian monarchy did not long survive the end of the war and Queen Elena was forced into exile alongside her husband. She died in Montpellier, France on November 28, 1952 at the age of 79.