Royals at war over succession rules – despite lack of a throne

A plan to reform an ancient law of succession has set off a battle between Italy’s erstwhile royals, who dream of a return to glory despite not having sat on the throne for more than 70 years.

Italy’s 1000-year-old royal family, the House of Savoy, was abolished in a referendum in 1946 when the country became a republic, but its members still accord themselves their old titles.

Prince Vittorio Emanuele and his son, Prince Emanuele Filiberto, want to change a medieval law that stipulates the royal line can only pass down to male heirs. But they face opposition from a rival branch of the dynasty.

Prince Emanuele Filiberto, the grandson of Italy’s last king, has two daughters but no son and wants the line of succession to pass to his oldest girl, Vittoria, who is about to turn 16.

‘‘My father was thinking of changing the law three years ago, but I asked him to wait until Vittoria reached the age of 16, so that she would understand what it meant,’’ Prince Emanuele Filiberto told Corriere della Sera newspaper.

‘‘It is anachronistic, in a society which recognises the equality of the sexes, to think that the House of Savoy discriminates against women.’’

Although Italy is a republic, the royals hope that one day they might be asked to return.

‘‘Never say never.

‘‘In the meantime, we want to guide a royal house with 1000 years of history towards the future,’’ he said.

But a rival branch of the royals, the Dukes of Aosta, contest the leadership of the House of Savoy and are opposed to the reform of the socalled Salic law, a Frankish civil code that dates back to the early Middle Ages.

The issue has revived the historic rivalry between the two branches of the family, known formally as the Carignano Savoys and the Aosta Savoys, who both lay claim to the defunct throne. In 2004, Prince Vittorio Emanuele was involved in a dust-up at a Spanish royal wedding in which he allegedly punched his cousin, Duke Amedeo of Aosta.

The Aosta branch insist that the law should not be modified until the monarchy is restored – a remote prospect as there is little support in Italy for bringing the royals back to the throne.

Prince Amedeo’s son, Prince Aimone, has two sons of his own so the principle of male-only succession suits the family well.

But that has not deterred the main branch of the Savoys, who have drawn up a decree which they intend to send to the other dynasties.

It reads: ‘‘From now onwards, the succession to our royal house and to all our dynastic orders will fall to either sex, according to the principle of primogeniture.’’

Prince Emanuele Filiberto, a former hedge fund manager, has been a staple of Italy’s gossip magazines, having married in 2003 a French actress, Clotilde Courau.

– Telegraph Group