Present for a princely wedding

*(1)

Maybe some of you had the chance to go to the exhibition on the "Trousseau de la Reine de Mai – Marie-José de Savoie" which took place at the Mona Bismarck Foundation (Paris) from October to December 2009. Some sumptuous works of art were displayed including pieces belonging to the foundation Humbert II and Marie-José of Savoy (Geneva, Switzerland). Most of these objects were part of the trousseau of Marie José of Saxe Cobourg-Gotha, Princess of Belgium (1906-2001). In fact, the 8 January 1930 she married Prince Humbert of Savoy, the last King of Italy, in the Pauline Chapel of the Quirinal Palace in Rome.

With the Second World War and the accession to power of Mussolini allied with Nazi Germany, the Royal Family lost the power in Italy until the American intervention, which allowed Victor Emmanuel III to retrieve his throne. After the Armistice signed in Cassibile between Italy and the Allied armed forces (Great Britain and America), the Italian troops were disarmed and dispersed by the German forces, and the Italian Navy was attacked by the German Luftwaffe. The Royal Family run away from Rome, in order to find refuge behind the lines of the Allied. In April 1945, the Princess of Savoy, exiled in Switzerland, had to cross the Great St. Bernard Pass

by foot and by skiing in order to get back to Italy while eluding the Germans. After the abdication of King Victor Emmanuel III, Humbert II and his wife succeeded to the throne the 9th May 1946.  But the House of Savoy had not regain its former prestige, which had been very much affected during the events of 1943. Therefore, their reign only lasted 24 days, until the referendum which established the Republic the 2nd June 1946. Therefore the Royal Family left the country for Portugal and then Switzerland. As for Marie-José of Savoy, this short reign earned  her the affectionate nickname "the May Queen".

 

*(2)

On the occasion of her marriage with the Prince of Savoy, the silversmith Musy de Turin produced several finely worked pieces, such as this silver box: these objects were designed as a celebration of the magnificence of the ceremony and as a souvenir of this union. Nowadays, they recall us more severe destinies, but this particularity add to the distinction, charm and preciosity of these items.    

Albane Piot

Student at the Ecole du Louvre