| Princess Maria Gabriella | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Maria Gabriella of Savoy in 1960 | |||||
| Born | (1940-02-24)24 February 1940 (age 85) Naples,Kingdom of Italy | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue | Marie Elizabeth Zellinger de Balkany | ||||
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| House | Savoy | ||||
| Father | Umberto II of Italy | ||||
| Mother | Marie-José of Belgium | ||||
Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy (Maria Gabriella Giuseppa Aldegonda Adelaide Ludovica Felicita Gennara; born 24 February 1940) is the middle daughter of Italy's last king,Umberto II, andMarie-José of Belgium, the "May Queen". She is a historical writer.
Maria Gabriella di Savoia was the third child of the Prince and Princess of Piedmont, born inNaples, Italy in 1940.[1] Her older siblings werePrincess Maria Pia andPrince Vittorio Emanuele, while the younger wasPrincess Maria Beatrice.[2] Her parents, married since 1930, were unhappy together, as her mother confessed in an interview many years later (On n'a jamais été heureux, "We were never happy")[citation needed], and separated after the Italian monarchy was abolished following the1946 referendum. To avoid capture by Nazi troops her mother had fled Italy to neutral Switzerland with Maria Gabriella and her siblings, where they took refuge from September 1943 until their return to Italy in 1945, by which time their father had become lieutenant-general of the kingdom for his father,King Victor Emmanuel III. Exiled after the fall of the monarchy, the family gathered briefly in Portugal, whence she, her sisters and brother soon returned with their mother to Switzerland, while their father remained in thePortuguese Riviera.[2]
Maria Gabriella is a first cousin of the lateKing Baudouin of Belgium, former KingAlbert II of Belgium, the lateGrand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg,Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse, andTsar Simeon II of Bulgaria.
Educated in Switzerland, Maria Gabriella also took courses at a school associated with theLouvre in Paris.[2] After her father's death, and with her brother's approval, she launched the King Umberto II Foundation inLausanne, dedicated to preserving the history and legacy of theHouse of Savoy.[2] She participated in numerous cultural presentations and organised an exhibit inAlbertville during the1992 Olympics.[2] At the beginning of the 21st century she co-authored a number of books, mostly with Stefano Papi.
In the 1950s,Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, then divorced from his second wife, indicated his interest in marrying Princess Maria Gabriella.Pope John XXIII reportedly vetoed the suggestion. In an editorial about the rumors surrounding the marriage of "a Muslim sovereign and a Catholic princess", theVatican newspaper,L'Osservatore Romano, wrote that the match constituted "a grave danger."[3]
She married Robert Zellinger de Balkany (4 August 1931 inIclod, Romania – 19 September 2015 inGeneva, Switzerland) on 12 February 1969 inSainte-Mesme. The religious wedding was celebrated later on 21 June 1969 atEze-sur-Mer, at Château Balsan.[1] The couple separated in 1976 and divorced in November 1990. They had one daughter.[2]
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