Descendants of the last king of Italy demand the return of their family diamonds

Representatives of the Savoy dynasty have filed an official request for the return of family jewels, which have been stored in the vault of the Bank of Italy for 76 years, reports the Daily Mail. In June 1946, the citizens of Italy voted to abolish the monarchy. King Umberto II, who managed to stay on the throne for only 33 days, was sent into exile along with his male heirs. Before that, he transferred for safekeeping to the Bank of Italy jewelry - brooches, tiaras and necklaces with more than 6,000 diamonds and 2,000 pearls worn by Italian queens and princesses.

These stones were the only thing that the Italian state did not confiscate from representatives of the dynasty after the overthrow of the monarchy. Now this fact will help them return the jewels, the current members of the House of Savoy believe: the son of Umberto II Victor Emmanuel of Savoy and his daughters Maria Gabriella, Maria Pia and Maria Beatrice. Another fact in favor of the family may be that the disputed jewels were personal property, not the property of the monarchy: the diamonds were either presented as a gift to members of the royal family or bought by them.

The family's lawyer, Sergio Orlandi, told the Corriere della Sera newspaper: "The family will get the jewels back". If negotiations with representatives of the Bank of Italy and the Italian government are not successful, the family intends to sue the state. The fact that the heirs decided to demand diamonds only now is explained by their fears of causing a negative public reaction. The male descendants of the House of Savoy were allowed to return to Italy only 20 years ago. Before returning to his homeland from Swiss exile in 2003, the current head of the dynasty, Victor Emmanuel, declared that he would not claim the crown jewels, adding that "they are no longer ours." But in saying this, he hoped that the stones would be put on public display.

In 2006, politicians from the Piedmont region approached Mario Draghi, the current Italian prime minister and then governor of the Bank of Italy, with a request to show the jewels at the Turin Olympics. Draghi forwarded the request to the government, but the jewels were never displayed.

The exact value of the gemstones is unknown - the estimate ranges from 18 to 300 million euros.