Princess Maria Francesca of Savoy
Princess Maria Francesca of Savoy (Maria Francesca Anna Romana; 26 December 1914 – 4 December 2001)[1] was the youngest daughter of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Elena of Montenegro. In 1939, she married Prince Luigi of Bourbon-Parma. She was the sister of Umberto II of Italy and Tsaritsa Giovanna of Bulgaria. Biography![]() Born on 26 December 1914, Maria Francesca was born in Rome as the fifth and youngest child of her parents. She had three elder sisters, Yolanda, Giovanna, Mafalda, and a brother, Umberto. On 23 January 1939, in the Pauline Chapel of the Quirinal Palace in Rome, Maria Francesca married Prince Luigi of Bourbon-Parma (1899–1967), a younger son of Robert I, Duke of Parma, and Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal.[2] Her husband was a brother of Zita, Empress of Austria,[2] the last Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. The couple moved to Cannes, where all four of their children were born.[3] Maria was interned with her husband and two sons by the Nazis during World War II.[3] In 1945 the Anglo-Americans freed them and they returned to Italy. After the war, they lived in Italy for a while, then returned to France.[3] She took up permanent residence in Mandelieu, near Cannes, after her husband's death in 1967.[2] They had four children:[2]
Honours
Ancestry
References
External linksWikimedia Commons has media related to Princess Maria Francesca of Savoy. |