by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2015
photo: Wikipedia
Princess Marie José of Belgium, Queen of Italy
Princess Marie José Charlotte Sophie Amélie Henriette Gabrielle of Belgium was born on August 4, 1906, in Ostend, Belgium, the youngest child and only daughter of the future King Albert I of Belgium and Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria. She had two elder brothers:
- Leopold III, King of the Belgians (1901-1983), married (1) Princess Astrid of Sweden, had three children (2) Lilian Baels, had three children
- Prince Charles, Count of Flanders, Prince Regent (1903-1983), unmarried
She was initially educated at home and developed an early passion for music and the arts. She studied piano, and also violin, under the direction of the famed violinist (and close friend and her mother), Eugène Ysaÿe. After the outbreak of World War I, she was sent to the Convent of the Ursulines of Brentwood, in Essex, England. In 1917, she then studied at the College of the Santissima Annunziata in Italy for two years, before returning to Belgium, attending the College of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, in Linthout, until 1924.
During her time in Italy, Marie José first met her future husband, Crown Prince Umberto of Italy, Prince of Piedmont, the son of King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy and Princess Elena of Montenegro. Despite being their first meeting, a marriage between the two had been discussed between the two families since their early childhood. Finally, on January 8, 1930, the couple married in the Pauline Chapel at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, Italy. Now styled HRH The Princess of Piedmont, Marie José and her husband settled briefly at the Royal Palace of Turin before settling in Naples. They had four children:
- Princess Maria Pia (born 1934) – married (1) Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, had issue; (2) Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma, no issue
- Prince Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples (born 1937) – married Marina Ricolfi-Doria, had issue
- Princess Maria Gabriella (born 1940) – married Robert Zellinger de Balkany, had issue
- Princess Maria Beatrice (born 1943) – married Luis Rafael Reyna-Corvalán y Dillon, had issue
Distraught when the Germans invaded her homeland, Marie José quickly developed an aversion to all things German. For some time, she attempted to negotiate some sort of peace treaty between Italy and the United States, without the knowledge of her husband or father-in-law. When this was discovered, King Victor Emmanuel sent Marie José and her children to Sarre, in the northern part of Italy. Following the armistice in September 1943, she and her children were told to leave the country. Fearing for their safety, particularly that of her son, they settled in Switzerland where they would remain until the end of the war. Her return to Rome in June 1945 came in the midst of turmoil within the House of Savoy.
Her father-in-law, King Victor Emmanuel III, had transferred much of his authority to Umberto in April 1944. After Rome was liberated, Umberto assumed all the rest of his father’s constitutional powers, becoming Lieutenant General of the Realm, while his father retained the title of King. Finally, in a hope of garnering support for an upcoming referendum on the monarchy, King Victor Emmanuel III abdicated on May 9, 1946. Marie José and her husband became the new King and Queen of Italy.
Sadly, their reign was short-lived. The referendum was held on June 2, with the majority voting to abolish the monarchy. Accepting the will of the people, Umberto and Marie José left Italy on June 13 and were barred under the terms of the new constitution from returning to Italian soil. They settled in Portugal, but soon separated, with Marie José and her children eventually living once again in Switzerland. Both deeply religious, the couple never divorced, and continued to appear together at family events and occasionally went on holiday together. Years later, Queen Marie José would state in an interview that the couple was never happy and that she “should have run away the night of the wedding.”
In her 55 years in exile, Queen Marie José traveled extensively and continued her interests in music and the arts. She wrote several books about her family and the history of the House of Savoy, receiving the French Order of the Legion of Honor in recognition of her work. She also instituted a music competition, just as her mother had done years earlier.
1983 would be a year of great loss for the Queen. In March, her estranged husband King Umberto II died in Portugal. And in June and December, she lost her two brothers – Prince Charles, Count of Flanders, and King Leopold III. After her husband’s death, she was finally permitted to make several visits to Italy.
photo source: La Repubblica
In 1992, she sold her home in Switzerland and spent the next few years living with her daughter Marie-Béatrice in Mexico. She returned to Switzerland in 1996, and on January 27, 2001, 94-year-old Queen Marie José of Italy passed away in Geneva, Switzerland. Per her wishes, she was buried beside her late husband at Hautecombe Abbey in Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille, France, the traditional burial site of the House of Savoy. The tremendous outpouring of grief within Italy at the Queen’s death led the Italian government to repeal the ban on members of the House of Savoy from entering the country.
Tomb of King Umberto II and Queen Marie José, Hautecombe Abbey. photo: Wikipedia
This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.