SWITZERLAND: HEIRS TO THE ITALIAN THRONE FINALLY GIVEN GO-AHEAD TO RETURN HOME AFTER MORE THAN 50 YEARS IN EXILE

Record ID: 646753

  • Title: SWITZERLAND: HEIRS TO THE ITALIAN THRONE FINALLY GIVEN GO-AHEAD TO RETURN HOME AFTER MORE THAN 50 YEARS IN EXILE
  • Date: 15th October 2002
  • Summary: (U6) GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (OCTOBER 15, 2002) (REUTERS (A) - ACCESS ALL) 1. PAN: MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA AWAITING ANNOUNCEMENT BY PRINCE 0.04 2. VARIOUS OF MEMBERS OF EXILED ITALIAN ROYAL FAMILY ENTERING ROOM (2 SHOTS) 0.12 3. SCU: SOUNDBITE (Italian) PRINCE VITTORIO EMANUELE, SON OF LAST KING, SAYING: "It's a big day for me and my family. You can imagine that our emotions are so great because finally we can return to our country, a country about which my father told me many things." 0.38 4. SCU'S: FAMILY MEMBERS LISTENING (2 SHOTS) 0.44 5. SCU: SOUNDBITE (Italian) PRINCE VITTORIO EMANUELE, SON OF LAST KING, SAYING: "I'm grateful to the Italian authorities and members of parliament who wanted to change the constitution, I feel a real affection for the Italian people who have resisted the last attempts to prolong our exile." 1.02 6. SV: JOURNALISTS LOOKING ON 1.03 7. SCU: SOUNDBITE (Italian) PRINCE VITTORIO EMANUELE, SON OF LAST KING, SAYING: "We are all here, reunited to witness another chapter of our family and our country's history. Another page which links our family with our homeland." 1.20 8. PAN OF FAMILY MEMBERS 1.24 9. SV: SOUNDBITE (French) EMANUELE FILIBERTO, PRINCE'S SON, SAYING: "This is the day he has been waiting for for a long time, I've been waiting a little less, thirty years. It's a fantastic day. We are all extremely happy." 1.35 10. SV/MV: JOURNALISTS PHOTOGRAPHING FAMILY (2 SHOTS) 1.46 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 30th October 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Reuters ID: LVAYXZWCVGY1XCGHPRCAENL5OKL
  • Story Text: After an exile lasting more than half a century, the
    heirs to Italy's throne have finally got the go-ahead to
    return home. The green light came from the country's highest
    court which announced that a petition by anti-royalists to
    prolong the banishment had failed.


    After an exile of more than fifty years, the exiled
    heirs to Italy's throne got the go-ahead on Tuesday (October
    15) to return home.

    This comes after Italy's highest court announced that a
    petition by anti-royalists seeking to prolong the royal
    family's banishment had failed.

    Prince Vittorio Emanuele, 64, welcomed the news from his
    residence in Switzerland, 'It's a big day for me and my
    family. You can imagine that our emotions are so great because
    finally we can return to our country, a country about which my
    father told me many things'
    However Prince Vittorio Emanuele is not expected back in
    Italy immediately because he is recovering from a recent
    rallying accident which has left him with a bad back.

    Back in 1946, Italians voted to abolish the monarchy,
    punishing the family for first collaborating with Benito
    Mussolini and then for fleeing Rome in 1944 to avoid an
    invading German army.

    Some 56 years after the ballot, and facing pressure from
    the European Court of Human Rights, Italy's parliament voted
    in July to re-write the constitution and allow the heirs back
    home as ordinary Italian citizens.

    Prince Vittorio Emanuele was less than 10 years old when
    he left Italy and welcomed the court's decision, 'I'm grateful
    to the Italian authorities and members of parliament who
    changed the constitution that brought our exile to an end.'
    His 30-year-old son, Emanuele Filiberto, is also now
    free to enter Italy.

    'This is the day he (Prince Vittorio Emanuele) has been
    waiting for for a long time, I've been waiting a little less
    time, thirty years. It's a fantastic day. We are all
    extremely happy', said Emanuele Filiberto.

    A group of die-hard republicans had tried to organise a
    referendum to halt the royal family's return. For that, they
    needed to raise an initial 500,000 signatures but when the
    deadline passed at midnight October 14 (Monday), they had less
    than 50,000.

    Vittorio Emanuele's parents, Umberto II and Maria Jose,
    ruled over Italy for just 27 days, prior to the national
    referendum which introduced the Republic on June 2, 1946.

    The month before the ballot, King Victor Emmanuel III,
    in a last ditch attempt to save his dynasty, abdicated in
    favour of his son Umberto. Italians still took their revenge,
    blaming the whole family for not standing up to Mussolini or
    Adolf Hitler.
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