Marie-José of Belgium
Marie-José of Belgium | |
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Thonex, Switzerland | |
Burial | , France |
Spouse | |
Elisabeth of Bavaria |
Marie-José of Belgium (Marie-José Charlotte Sophie Amélie Henriette Gabrielle; 4 August 1906 – 27 January 2001) was the last
Early life
Princess Marie-José was born in
In 1924, Marie-José attended her first court ball. For the occasion she was given an antique pearl and diamond tiara that had originally been owned by Stéphanie de Beauharnais.[2]
During the First World War, the Princess resided mainly in Great Britain but was often escorted by the Belgian King's Messenger, Archibald Alexander Gordon to her parents in Belgium. In 1918, the Princess reprimanded Major Gordon when he called her rabbit Marshal Soult by the name Soult. The princess explained that if she called for "Gordon", no one would be able to understand who she meant. Still, if she addressed him as Major Gordon, everyone would understand her because everyone knew who Major Gordon was.[3]
Marriage and children
On 8 January 1930, she married
Among the wedding gifts was a turquoise and diamond parure, worn by the bride at her pre-wedding reception,[4] and a diamond bow worn as a sash decoration at state occasions.[5]
The couple had four children:[citation needed]
- Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia on 12 February 1955 and was divorced in 1967. Four children were born during the marriage. She remarried to Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parmain 2003.
- Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples (12 February 1937 — 3 February 2024), who married Marina Ricolfi Doria on 7 October 1971. They have one son.
- Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy (24 February 1940), who married Robert Zellinger de Balkany on 21 June 1969 and was divorced in November 1990. They have issue.
- Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy (2 February 1943), who married Luis Reyna-Corvallán y Dillon on 1 April 1970, and has issue.
Princess of Piedmont
In October 1939, Princess Marie-José was made President of the
During the
Mussolini's mistress,
In 1943, the Crown Princess involved herself in vain attempts to arrange a separate peace treaty between Italy and the United States; her interlocutor from the Vatican was Monsignor Giovanni Battista Montini, a senior diplomat who later became Pope Paul VI. She also interceded with Adolf Hitler to ask for mercy towards the people of Belgium.[1]
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
She sympathised with the partisans, and while she was a refugee in Switzerland, smuggled weapons, money and food for them.[1] She was nominated for appointment as chief of a partisan brigade, but declined.
Queen for a month
Styles of Queen Marie-José | ||
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Reference style Her Majesty | | |
Spoken style | Your Majesty |
Following Italy's defection to the
Upon the eventual abdication on 9 May 1946 of her father-in-law, Marie-José became
Umberto and Marie-José had been widely praised for their performance over the last two years, and it has been argued that had Victor Emmanuel abdicated sooner their relative popularity might have saved the monarchy. Following the monarchy's defeat (54–46%), she and her husband left the country for exile on 13 June 1946.
Exile
In exile, the family gathered for a brief time on the Portuguese Riviera, but she and Umberto separated. She and their four children soon left for Switzerland, where she lived most of the time for the rest of her life, while Umberto remained in Portugal. However, the couple, both of whom were devout Catholics, never divorced. The republican constitution forbade the restoration of the monarchy and also barred all male members of the House of Savoy, as well as former queens consort, from returning to Italian soil.[1]
Death
For some time, she lived in Mexico with her daughter, Princess Marie-Beatrice, and her grandchildren.[7]
Queen Marie-José returned to Italy after her husband's death in 1983. She died on 27 January 2001 in a
The funeral was held at
Musical foundation
Like her mother,
Honours
National dynastic honours
- House of Savoy: Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
Foreign honours
- Holy See: Knight of the Order of the Golden Spur
- Justice of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Special Class
- Austrian Imperial and Royal Family: Dame of the Imperial and Royal Order of the Starry Cross, 1st Class
- Greek Royal Family: Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Saints Olga and Sophia, 1st Class
Arms and monogram
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Alliance Coat of Arms of King Umberto II and Queen Maria-José
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Royal Monogram of Queen Maria-José of Italy
Portrayal of Marie in the arts
Music
- Dutch singer better source needed]
Ancestry
Ancestors of Marie-José of Belgium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f Cope, Rebecca. "The extraordinary life of the beautiful, and radical, last Queen of Italy". Tatler. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ "An antique and pearl tiara". Christies.com. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ Gordon, A. A. (1941). Culled from a Diary (1st ed.). Scotland: Oliver&Boyd. p. 155.
- ^ "Fine antique turquoise and diamond parure". Christies.com. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ "Antique diamond bow". Christies.com. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ "Mussolini 'had affair with Italy's last queen'". The Guardian. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
- ^ "16 Janvier 2018 Archives : la période mexicaine de Marie José d'Italie". Noblesse & Royautés. 16 January 2016.
- ^ "Italy's last queen dies". BBC. 6 June 2018.
- ^ Historique du Prix Archived 11 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Fondationreinemariejose.ch. Retrieved 10 May 2017
- ^ Berger, Petra (12 June 2011). "Terra Promessa" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2018 – via YouTube.
Clip from the DVD Live in Concert (2004)
External links
- "Queen Marie-José international musical composition prize", reinemariejose.ch. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
- short biography in the February 2001 issue of La Rondine. Retrieved 5 June 2018.