Succession to the Italian throne

The Line of succession to the Italian throne is a structed list of those persons eligible to succeeded to throne of the former Kingdom of Italy, or today the headship of the Royal House of Italy. The Italian monarchy was abolished in June 1946 following a constitutional referendum which saw a narrow majority vote for the abolition of the monarchy and the creation of an Italian Republic. Despite the referendum itself being seen by many observers as deeply flawed due to Italy's post war borders not having been settled, millions of voters excluded from the electoral roll and vote rigging in certain areas of Italy by communist partisans, King Umberto II of Italy chose to go into exile rather than contest the result and risk civil war.

Following the death of King Umberto II in 1983 his only son Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples succeeded unchallenged as head of the House of Savoy. This position was uncontested until 2006 when Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta challenged the rights of Prince Vittorio Emanuele arguing he had fortified his right of succession upon his unequal marriage to Marina Doria. Upon his death in 2021, Prince Amedeo was succeeded in his claims by his son Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta.

Law of succession
During the monarchy the Italian throne was transmitted by salic law to the perpetual exclusion of daughters and their descendants. For a marriage to be dynastically valid it must authorised by the head of the Royal House.

Line of succession in June 1946

 * King Carlo Alberto of Sardinia (1798–1849)
 * [[Image:Simple silver crown.svg|15px]] King Vittorio Emanuele II (1820–1878)
 * [[Image:Simple silver crown.svg|15px]] King Umberto I (1844–1900)
 * [[Image:Simple silver crown.svg|15px]] King Vittorio Emanuele III (born 1869)
 * [[Image:Simple gold crown.svg|15px]] King Umberto II (born 1904)
 * (1) Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Piedmont (b. 1937)
 * Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta (King Amadeo I of Spain) (1845–1890)
 * Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta (1869–1931)
 * (2) Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta (b. 1900)
 * (3) Prince Amedeo, Duke of Apulia (b. 1943)
 * (4) Prince Vittorio Emanuele, Count of Turin (b. 1870)
 * Prince Ferdinando, Duke of Genoa (1822–1855)
 * Prince Tommaso, Duke of Genoa (1854–1931)
 * (5) Prince Ferdinando, Duke of Genoa (b. 1884)
 * (6) Prince Filiberto, Duke of Pistoia (b. 1895)
 * (7) Prince Adalberto, Duke of Bergamo (b. 1898)
 * (8) Prince Eugenio, Duke of Ancona (b. 1906)

The Savoy-Genoa male line ultimately became extinct upon the death of Prince Eugenio, the last surviving male agnate of this line, in 1996. In turn, this left only the main Savoy royal male line and the Savoy-Aosta male line.

There is also a surviving morganatic branch of the House of Savoy, the Counts of Villafranca-Soissons, who descend from Prince Eugenio Emanuele, Count of Villafranca.

Situation following the death King Umberto II
Upon the death of death of King Umberto II in 1983 his only son Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples succeeded to the headship of the House of Savoy unchallenged. In the following years he fully exercised the dynastic prerogatives associated with the headship, he distributed the dynastic orders of the House of Savoy and bestowed the title Prince of Piedmont on his son.

On 16 June 2006, Prince Vittorio Emanuele was arrested in Varenna and imprisoned in Potenza on charges of corruption and recruitment of prostitutes for clients of the Casinò di Campione of Campione d'Italia. Shortly afterwards on 7 July 2006, Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, declared himself to be the head of the house and Duke of Savoy, and produced documentation from King Umberto II dating from the 1960s indicating Prince Vittorio Emanuele would lose his succession rights in the event he was to marry without the king's permission and the king would communicate this to the Italian people, other royal houses and to the members of the House of Savoy.

There is no evidence that King Umberto did not authorise his son’s marriage to Marina Doria. Conversely, the king bestowed the title Prince of Venice on his grandson Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy and throughout his lifetime it was understood, and never contradicted, that his son and grandson were his eventual heirs. The Savoy entry in the 1981 Genealogishces Handbuch des Adels published during the kings lifetime makes no mention of his son or grandson not being considered members of the House of Savoy. The king also never communicated to the Italian people, other members of the House of Savoy and the other royal houses that his son was excluded from the succession as he stated he would do should his son have married unequally and without permission.

On 15 January 2020, Vittorio Emanuele announced in a press release that on 28 December 2019 he used his rights and prerogatives as head of the House of Savoy to abolish the Salic Law which governed the line of succession in favour of absolute primogeniture, allowing his descendants to succeed by birth order regardless of sex on the basis of “equality between the sexes and moreover, an application of both accepted and implemented by extensive international normative”. He cited “the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, applied in the Treaty of Lisbon of 2009, which reaffirmed the principle of equality between men and women and the values and objectives of the European Union”.

On the same day, in response to this act, the Italian Monarchist Union had announced that they opposed this act of change in the line of succession made by the Prince of Naples. The change was also opposed by the Duke of Aosta and his son.

The line of succession to this claim is as follows:


 * [[Image:Simple silver crown.svg|15px]] King Umberto II (1904–1983)
 * Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples (born 1937)
 * (1) Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice (b. 1972)
 * (2) Vittoria, Princess of Carignano (b. 2003)
 * (3) Luisa, Princess of Chieri (b. 2006)

Duke of Aosta
The Duke of Aosta claims that because Vittorio Emanuele married in violation of the House of Savoy's dynastic law he forfeited his dynastic rights. Aldo Alessandro Mola, president of the former Council of the Senators of the Kingdom, published a declaration in favour of Amedeo's claim; and he also received the support of Vittorio Emanuele's sister Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy.

The line of succession to this claim is as follows:


 * [[Image:Simple silver crown.svg|15px]] King Vittorio Emanuele II (1820–1878)
 * [[Image:Simple silver crown.svg|15px]] King Umberto I (1844–1900)
 * [[Image:Simple silver crown.svg|15px]] King Vittorio Emanuele III (1869–1947)
 * [[Image:Simple silver crown.svg|15px]] King Umberto II (1904–1983)
 * Prince Amedeo, 1st Duke of Aosta (1845–1890)
 * Prince Emanuele Filiberto, 2nd Duke of Aosta (1869–1931)
 * Prince Aimone, 4th Duke of Aosta (1900–1948)
 * Prince Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta (1943-2021)
 * Prince Aimone, Duke of Apulia (b. 1967)
 * (1) Prince Umberto of Savoy-Aosta (b. 2009)
 * (2) Prince Amedeo of Savoy-Aosta (b. 2011)

Clashes
On 21 May 2004 blows were struck in Madrid between the Crown Prince and the Duke of Aosta. At a soirée held at the Zarzuela Palace during the wedding celebrations of the Prince of Asturias, Amedeo approached Vittorio who reportedly punched him twice in the face, causing him to stumble backward down the steps. The quick intervention of Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, who propped him up, prevented the Duke from falling to the ground. She discreetly assisted him indoors while staunching his bleeding face until first aid was administered. Upon learning of the incident, King Juan Carlos of Spain reportedly declared that "never again" would an opportunity to abuse his hospitality be afforded the competing pretenders. The Queen's quick action avoided what might have been more serious injury to Amedeo and a public escalation of the confrontation.

In response to the Duke of Aosta's attempt in 2006 to assume the headship of the house, and his and his son's assumption of the name "di Savoia" along with the undifferenced arms of the Royal House of Savoy and of the Prince of Piedmont, the Prince of Naples and his son filed a lawsuit against the Aosta branch. The lawsuit was successful, the court of Arezzo ruling in February 2010 that the Duke of Aosta and his son must pay damages totalling 50,000 euros to their cousins and cease their use of the arms of the Royal House and those of the Prince of Piedmont. They were also forbidden to use the name "di Savoia", instead they must resume the name "di Savoia-Aosta". The Duke of Aosta is appealing the ruling.