Victoria of Savoy, the “influencer” princess and heir to a non-existent throne

In 2019, Víctor Manuel de Saboya, the son of the last king of Italy, gave his granddaughter an unusual gift at the age of 16: he abolished the Salic law to make her the first woman heir to a non-existent throne.

Si trata by Vittoria Cristina Chiara Adelaide Maria, or Victory of Savoy, who is now 17, a young woman who lives and studies in Paris and whom her father affectionately calls the princess of rock and roll. With nearly 50,000 followers on Instagram in her country, she is already considered the influencer princess, and dreams of one day founding her own fashion brand while managing the historic house of Savoy.

Italy has not had a king since June 2, 1946 Its citizens voted en masse in a referendum to abolish the monarchy, and since then they seem to have shown no interest in restoring it. Shortly after, in 1948, the Magna Carta decided to ban the entry of heirs of the royal household into the national territory, until Silvio Berlusconi repealed this clause in 2002.

“It was the best gift he could have given me,” the aristocrat said of his crown – symbolic – in a recent interview with The New York Times. Her She is the eldest daughter of Manuel Filiberto de Saboya, son of Victor Emmanuel, who retains the honorary title of Prince of Venice, and French actress Clotilde Courau, whom the heir met while practicing fencing at an event organized by another royal cousin, Alberto de Monaco. Manuel Filiberto is well known to Italians after having gained notoriety on the dance stages with the Stars and having participated in the Island of the Famous.

At the moment, the prince is creating a series similar to The crown about his grandmother, Queen Maria José, a model for Victoria. Living between Geneva and his home in Umbria, Manuel Filiberto’s last business was a food truck chain in the United States that sells Italian pasta under the Prince of Venice name.

Her daughter seems to have shown an interest in public life and a few weeks ago she posted a video addressed to the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, to lead the protests of students in French private schools to have to take face-to-face exams, unlike public schools. The video shows the young woman speaking fluently, and her father says he helped her avoid some overly informal expressions. But for the rest, her networks seem to indicate that she leads a life away from the spotlight, and she hangs photos posing with different models like any other girl of her age and social status would.

In London

Now the Princess is fully focused on selectivity and is preparing to move to the UK, where from next year you will study economics, Marketing and Art at the University of London. “What his mother and I want is for him to finish his studies. I am very proud of her, ”Manuel Filiberto told this newspaper.

She says that for the young woman carrying the weight of the house is still something very “abstract”, and they will start to prepare her later, once her grandfather passes away and her father takes over the head of the family. . They would like her to be known for her role in the dynasty or charity projects. At the moment she is really interested in fashion, she likes her “own style”, but she is always “looking for herself”. “Whatever she chooses, I will support her,” promises her father.

Victoria of Savoy does not seem to pay much attention to her detractors, the rival branch of the clan, the Dukes of Aosta. Prince Amadeo of Aosta claims he is the legitimate heir to the throne which does not exist, and he maintains that the Salic law cannot be changed until the monarchy is reestablished, if ever it is. Their complaints have a reason: their son, Prince Aimone, has two sons, so they have no interest in changing the rules of succession. The struggle between the two bloodlines caused them to fight, literally.

It is well known that at the wedding of the Kings of Spain in 2004, Víctor Manuel and Amadeo they finished with fists after a private dinner on the threshold of the palace.

Despite the accident, Manuel Fqiliberto brags about his bond with Felipe and Letizia and suggests that a beautiful friendship could be born between his eldest daughters, of very similar ages, given that the two will study in the UK. “I hope Leonor and Victoria meet because I have always had great respect for the Kings,” he said. “We’ll see where life takes them, but that would be very nice.”

The avant-garde