Rosa Teresa Vercellana Guerrieri

Rosa Teresa Vercellana (3 June 1833 – 26 December 1885) was the mistress and, later, wife of Victor Emmanuel II, King of Italy. She was made Countess of Mirafiori and Fontanafredda, but never Queen of Italy.

She was the youngest child of Giovanni Battista Vercellana, a standard bearer in the Napoleonic Imperial Guard, and his wife Teresa Griglio. After the fall of Napoleon, her father was appointed an Officer in the King's Guards and commanded the Royal Garrison in the hunting estate of Racconigi by 1847. It was there, while living with her family, that Rosa met Victor Emmanuel, who was then Crown Prince. She became his mistress and had two children by him.

* Vittoria Guerrieri (2 December 1848-1905), firstly married (1868) Marchese Giacomo Spinola (1828-1872), had issue; (1873) secondly married Marchese Luigi Spinola (1825-1899), had issue; thirdly, Paolo de Simone (committed suicide), no issue.
* Emanuele Alberto Guerrieri (16 March 1851-23 December 1894), Count of Mirafiori and Fontanafredda, married (1873) Bianca de Larderel (1856-1942), had issue.

Their affair cased a great scandal in 1849 when Victor was crowned King, however, when his Queen died in 1855, the King named Rosa Countess of Mirafiori and Fontanafredda by royal decree in 1858. The King also recognized and assigned the surname Guerrieri to his two children by Rosa.

Rosa and her King were married in a religious ceremony on October 18th, 1869 at San Rossore. The civil ceremony was held in Rome eight years later in 1877. This was a morganatic marriage, so she was never made Queen. Two months later, after the civil ceremony, Victor died. Rose only survived him by eight years, passing away in 1885.