Italy abolished its monarchy over 70 years ago at the end of World War II, and Italians have never raised the issue of restoring the monarchy since. Curiously, that hasn't stopped the descendants of Italy's royal family from arguing over who has a right to the theoretical crown.
One descendant decided to take matters into his own hands. The Duke of Savoy recently amended a law that meant only males could inherit the "throne" in Italy so that his granddaughter could, too. Then he declared her heir to exactly … nothing.
His granddaughter, Vittoria Cristina Chiara Adelaide Maria, is a 17-year-old social media influencer who lives with her family in Paris. Despite not having an actual throne to ascend to, she told The New York Times that the gift was perfect. "It was the best gift he could give me."
However, her cousin Prince Aimone di Savoia Aosta has declared the designation "totally illegitimate" and believes it is rightfully his.
Vittoria's father, Emanuele Filiberto, says that the move was the right one to make.
For starters, he believes the monarchy could be reinstated at some point. "Never say never," he commented. He went on to add that the family is gaining popularity: "We also have a lot of people who are seeing the family with a potential comeback."
Unsurprisingly, it seems that the issue really boils down to one universal: money. Heirs to the Italian throne are in control of who in Italy is given titles. Generally, those people are the ones who are wealthy enough to pay for the title in the first place.
Vittoria herself loves the designation, but she's less sure that Italy is prepared to accept her as heir/head of the family. Since she hasn't lived in Italy, she doesn't know much about the country, but she says, "Italy is not really progressive. But, they will learn."
The other branch of the the family, known as the Aosta, are arguing that the change isn't valid because the monarchy hasn't been restored. Prince Aimone, Duke of Puglia, was allegedly punched twice by his cousin, Vittoria's father, several years ago. He acknowledges that things are still tense.
He says, "To put it mildly, it is not a good relationship," but he also isn't hoping to start a fight "over something that doesn't exist. I try to be more dignified if possible given the great responsibility of such a name."
In the end, Vittoria's father believes everything boils down to one thing: jealousy. "They were thinking that me, not having any sons, they would finally have what they were waiting for, for 150 years. They got screwed. And they got pissed."
