Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Unlike in the U.K., Spain and Sweden — where kings and queens are still formally heads of state — Italy’s royal family, the House of Savoy, no longer rules.
The last heir to the Italian throne, Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy and his family were forced into exile in 1946, when the prince was 9.
That year, the Italian people voted in a referendum about whether the monarchy should continue. They chose to create a republic and punished the royals for failing to save their country from Mussolini’s fascist regime.
The Savoys were allowed to return in 2003 after 57 years of exile. In 1978, Vittorio Emanuele – the king who never was – got into trouble while he and his wife and kids were living on the island of Cavallo, on the south coast of Corsica, France.
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