Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy

Infobox Italian Royalty|princess
name = Princess Maria Gabriella
title = Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy
full name = Maria Gabriella Giuseppa Aldegonda Adelaide Daisy Ludovica Felicita Gennara


imgw =
titles = "HRH" Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy
date of birth = birth date and age|1940|02|24
place of birth = Naples, Italy
royal house = House of Savoy
spouse = Roberto Zellinger de Balkany
issue = Marie Elizabeth Zellinger de Balkany
father = Umberto II of Italy
mother = Princess Marie-José of Belgium

Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy ("Maria Gabriella Giuseppa Aldegonda Adelaide Daisy Ludovica Felicita Gennara di Savoia" (born 24 February 1940 in Naples) is the middle daughter of Italy's last king, Umberto II and his queen, Marie José of Belgium.

Marriage

She married Roberto Zellinger de Balkany (born 1931) on February 12, 1969 in Saint-Mesme. The religious wedding was celebrated later on June 21, 1969 at Eze-sur-Mer, with the couple separating in 1976. They divorced in 1990. She was educated in languages and is a noted historian, especially on Italian issues. She has also authored a number of books.

The couple had one child:
* Marie Elizabeth Zellinger de Balkany (born 1972, married Olivier Janssens in 2003)

Relationship with the Shah of Iran

In the 1950s, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, then divorced from his second wife, indicated his interest in marrying Princess Maria Gabriella. Pope John XXIII reportedly vetoed the suggestion. In an editorial about the rumors surrounding the marriage of "a Muslim sovereign and a Catholic princess", the Vatican newspaper, "L'Osservatore Romano", considered the match "a grave danger," [Paul Hofmann, "Pope Bans Marriage of Princess to Shah", "New York Times", 24 February 1959, p. 1.] especially considering that under the 1917 Code of Canon Law a Roman Catholic who attempted to contract a marriage with a divorced person could incur the penalty of excommunication.

References

Ancestry

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1= 1. Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy
2= 2. Umberto II of Italy
3= 3. Princess Marie-José of Belgium
4= 4. Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
5= 5. Princess Jelena of Montenegro
6= 6. Albert I of Belgium
7= 7. Duchess Elisabeth of Bavaria
8= 8. Umberto I of Italy
9= 9. Princess Margherita of Savoy
10= 10. Nicholas I of Montenegro
11= 11. Milena Vukotić
12= 12. Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders
13= 13. Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
14= 14. Karl-Theodor, Duke in Bavaria
15= 15. Infanta Maria Josepha of Portugal
16= 16. Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
17= 17. Archduchess Maria Adelaide of Austria
18= 18. Ferdinand, 1st Duke of Genoa
19= 19. Princess Elizabeth of Saxony
20= 20. Mirko Petrović Njegoš, Grand Duke of Grahovo
21= 21. Anastasija Martinović
22= 22. Peter Vukotić
23= 23. Jelena Voivodić
24= 24. Leopold I of Belgium
25= 25. Princess Louise-Marie of France
26= 26. Karl Anton, Prince of Hohenzollern
27= 27. Princess Josephine of Baden
28= 28. Maximilian Joseph, Duke in Bavaria
29= 29. Princess Ludovika of Bavaria
30= 30. Miguel of Portugal
31= 31. Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg