The Savoys claim their jewelry collection from Italy
Umberto II's reign in Italy was short, very short: it only lasted 33 days. He ascended the throne on May 9, 1946 and on June 12 he had to accept the results of the plebiscite in which the Italians opted for the Republic as a form of state. The Savoys left Italy and the extensive collection of family jewels remained there: a veritable treasure made up of around 7,000 diamonds and 2,000 pearls mounted on a set of necklaces, earrings, diadems and brooches worn by queens and princesses such as María José de Belgium, consort of the last Italian monarch, Elena of Orleans and Margarita Teresa of Savoy.
The collection is in a safe at the Bank of Italy and now, 76 years after the departure of the Savoy, its heirs claim ownership. He has been the grandson of the last king of Italy, Manuel Filiberto de Saboya, in charge of carrying out previous negotiations with the Italian Government, the Bank of Italy and the Ministry of Economy for his return. Negotiations that have failed and have led the Saboya (Víctor Manuel, and his sisters María Pía, María Gabriella and María Beatriz) to take legal action.
It all started after Umberto II lost the Crown. Three days later, the government asked him to hand over the royal jewels that were in the Quirinale Palace. The delivery document said that the jewels would be at the disposal of whoever had the right to them, a vague phrase that allows the Savoys to have hope when it comes to claiming their property.
During these three quarters of a century, only once has the chest of valuable jewels been opened. It was in 1976, when the Bvlgari house evaluated them, setting their value at about 18 million gold. In that chest rest pieces as emblematic as the brooch with the Savoy cord of María José de Bélgica.
The heir to the dynastic rights has pointed out that it makes no sense for the jewels to be kept and that his goal is to be able to display them publicly. The heirs of the House of Savoy have given a period of days to start a legal battle that promises to turn the Italian state upside down and write a new chapter in the long history of the Savoy family.
