Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy

Princess of Savoy

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, and Marie 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 in Naples, Italy in 1940. Her older siblings were Princess Maria Pia and Prince Vittorio Emanuele, while the younger was Princess Maria Beatrice. 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"), and separated after the Italian monarchy was abolished following the 1946 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 the Portuguese Riviera.

She married Robert Zellinger de Balkany (4 August 1931 in Iclod, Romania – 19 September 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland) on 12 February 1969 in Sainte Mesme. The religious wedding was celebrated later on 21 June 1969 at Eze sur Mer, at Château Balsan. The couple separated in 1976 and divorced in November 1990. They had one child:

Marie Elisabeth Zellinger de Balkany (born 2 March 1972), married Olivier Janssens (born 1966) on 31 October 2002 and has four children.

Casa Savoia. Diario di una monarchia (2001, Mondadori Electa), co written with Romano Brancalini. Gioielli di Casa Savoia (2002, Mondadori Electa), co written with Stefano Papi. Vita di corte in casa Savoia (2005, Mondadori Electa), co written with Stefano Papi. Jewellery of the House of Savoy (2007, Mondadori Electa), co written with Stefano Papi. (expanded English edition of Gioielli di Casa Savoia)