Marie-José of Belgium

2025-09-28T19:48:33Z

87.49.43.123:

{{Short description|Queen of Italy in 1946}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox royalty|consort=yes
| image = Marie-Jose of Belgium, Queen of Italy.jpg
| caption = Official portrait, 1946
| succession = [[List of Italian queens#House of Savoy, (1861–1946)|Queen consort of Italy]]
| reign = 9 May 1946 – 12 June 1946
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Umberto II of Italy]]|8 January 1930|18 March 1983|end=died}}
| issue = {{ubl|[[Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Parma|Princess Maria Pia]]|[[Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples]]|[[Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy|Princess Maria Gabriella]]|[[Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy|Princess Maria Beatrice]]}}
| full name = Marie-José Charlotte Sophie Amélie Henriette Gabrielle
| house = [[House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Belgium)|Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]] (until 1920)<br>[[House of Belgium|Belgium]] (from 1920)
| father = [[Albert I of Belgium]]
| mother = [[Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium|Elisabeth of Bavaria]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1906|8|4}}
| birth_place = [[Ostend]], Belgium
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2001|1|27|1906|8|4}}
| death_place = [[Thônex]], Switzerland
| burial_place= [[Hautecombe Abbey]], France
}}
'''Marie-José of Belgium'''{{efn|{{IPA|nl-BE|maːˌri joːˈseː|Lang|small=no}}, {{IPA|fr|maʁi ʒoze|Lang|small=no}}; {{langx|it|Maria José del Belgio}} {{IPA|it|maˈriːa ʒoˈzɛ ddel ˈbɛldʒo|}}.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.raiplay.it/video/2021/01/Passato-e-Presente---Maria-Jose-la-regina-di-maggio-7054bb7c-7a2f-466e-91c6-afe556b5fd9d.html|title=Passato e Presente - Maria José, la regina di maggio|time=1:39|work=[[RaiPlay]]|publisher=[[RAI]]|language=it|date=2021-01-21|access-date=2024-09-24|url-access=subscription}}</ref>}} (Marie-José Charlotte Sophie Amélie Henriette Gabrielle; 4 August 1906 – 27 January 2001) was the last [[List of Italian queens|Queen of Italy]] as the wife of [[Umberto II of Italy|Umberto II]]. Her 34-day tenure as [[queen consort]] earned her the nickname "'''the May Queen'''" ({{langx|it|la regina di maggio|links=no}}).

==Early life==
[[File:Marie-José of Belgium aged 9 - Project Gutenberg etext 20521.png|left|thumb|150px|Marie-José, aged 9]]
Princess Marie-José was born in [[Ostend]], the youngest child of [[Albert I of Belgium|King Albert I of the Belgians]] and his consort, [[Elisabeth of Bavaria (1876–1965)|Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria]]. Through her mother she was a grandniece of [[Empress Elisabeth of Austria]] and of [[Maria Sophie of Bavaria]], last queen consort of the [[Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]]. During the [[First World War]], she was evacuated to England where she was a [[boarding school|boarding]] pupil at the [[Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School]] in Brentwood, Essex. She later attended the [[Istituto Statale della Santissima Annunziata|Santissima Annunziata Boarding School]] in [[Florence]], Italy, where she first met her future husband.<ref name="cope">{{cite web |last1=Cope |first1=Rebecca |title=The extraordinary life of the beautiful, and radical, last Queen of Italy |url=https://www.tatler.com/article/last-queen-of-italy-marie-jose |website=Tatler |access-date=17 August 2020}}</ref> In 1924, Marie-José attended her first court ball. For the occasion she was given an antique [[pearl]] and diamond tiara that had originally been owned by [[Stéphanie de Beauharnais]].<ref>{{cite web|title=An antique and pearl tiara|url=http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/jewelry/an-antique-pearl-and-diamond-tiara-4928117-details.aspx?pos=14&intObjectID=4928117&sid=#top|website=Christies.com|access-date=13 December 2017}}</ref>

During the First World War, the Princess resided mainly in Great Britain but was often escorted by the Belgian King's Messenger, [[Archibald Alexander Gordon]] to her parents in Belgium. In 1918, the Princess reprimanded Major Gordon when he called her rabbit Marshal Soult by the name Soult. The princess explained that if she called for "Gordon", no one would be able to understand who she meant. Still, if she addressed him as Major Gordon, everyone would understand her because everyone knew who Major Gordon was.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gordon |first=A. A. |title=Culled from a Diary |publisher=Oliver&Boyd |year=1941 |edition=1st |location=Scotland |pages=155 |language=English}}</ref>

==Marriage and children==
[[Image:Maria José scende dall'Alfa.JPG|thumb|left|180px|[[Monza Circuit|Monza]], September 1930. Princess Maria-José of Belgium steps down from [[Baconin Borzacchini|Borzacchini]]'s [[Alfa Romeo]] car with the help of {{ill|Prospero Gianferrari|it}}.]]
On 8 January 1930, she married [[Umberto II|Crown Prince Umberto of Italy]], from the [[House of Savoy]], at the [[Quirinal Palace]] in Rome, and so became [[Princess of Piedmont]] (Italian: ''Principessa di Piemonte'').

Among the wedding gifts was a turquoise and diamond [[parure]], worn by the bride at her pre-wedding reception,<ref>{{cite web|title=Fine antique turquoise and diamond parure|url=http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/jewelry/a-fine-antique-and-diamond-4928120-details.aspx?pos=17&intObjectID=4928120&sid=|website=Christies.com|access-date=13 December 2017}}</ref> and a diamond bow worn as a sash decoration at state occasions.<ref>{{cite web|title=Antique diamond bow|url=http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/jewelry/an-antique-diamond-bow-brooch-by-musy-4928140-details.aspx?pos=37&intObjectID=4928140&sid=|website=Christies.com|access-date=13 December 2017}}</ref>

The couple had four children:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cope |first=Rebecca |date=2021-01-28 |title=The extraordinary life of the beautiful, and radical, last Queen of Italy |url=https://www.tatler.com/article/last-queen-of-italy-marie-jose |access-date=2024-05-31 |website=Tatler |language=en-GB}}</ref>
*[[Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Parma|Princess Maria Pia of Savoy]] (24 September 1934), who married [[Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia (born 1924)|Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia]] on 12 February 1955 and was divorced in 1967. Four children were born during the marriage. She remarried to [[Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma]] in 2003.
*[[Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples]] (12 February 1937 — 3 February 2024), who married [[Marina Doria|Marina Ricolfi Doria]] on 7 October 1971. They had one son.
*[[Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy]] (24 February 1940), who married Robert Zellinger de Balkany on 21 June 1969 and was divorced in November 1990. They have issue.
*[[Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy]] (2 February 1943), who married Luis Reyna-Corvallán y Dillon on 1 April 1970 and was divorced in 1998. They had issue.

==Princess of Piedmont==
In October 1939, Princess Marie-José was made President of the [[Red Cross]] in Italy. The [[Margherita, Archduchess of Austria-Este|Princess]] and [[Anne, Duchess of Aosta|Duchess of Aosta]] attended the ceremony where Marie-José was installed as President of the Italian Red Cross.

During the [[Second World War]] she was one of the very few diplomatic channels between the German/Italian camp and the other European countries involved in the war, as she was the sister of [[Leopold III of Belgium]] (kept hostage by the German forces) and at the same time, as the wife of the heir to the throne, close to some of the ministers of [[Benito Mussolini]]'s cabinet.<ref name="cope"/> A British diplomat in Rome recorded that the Princess of Piedmont was the only member of the Italian Royal Family with good political judgment.

Mussolini's mistress, [[Claretta Petacci]], claimed in her diary that in 1937 the then princess and wife of the heir to the throne tried and failed to seduce the dictator at a beach resort near Rome. However, Mussolini's son, [[Romano Mussolini|Romano]], claims that the princess and the dictator entered into a sexual relationship.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/31/mussolini-queen-marie-jose-affair|title=Mussolini 'had affair with Italy's last queen'|website=The Guardian|date=31 August 2011 |access-date=4 September 2018}}</ref>

In 1943, the Crown Princess involved herself in vain attempts to arrange a separate peace treaty between Italy and the United States; her interlocutor from the [[Holy See|Vatican]] was [[Pope Paul VI|Monsignor Giovanni Battista Montini]], a senior diplomat who later became Pope Paul VI. She also interceded with [[Adolf Hitler]] to ask for mercy towards the people of Belgium.<ref name="cope"/>

Her attempts were not sponsored by the king and Umberto was not (directly, at least) involved in them. After her failure (she never met the American agents), she was sent with her children to [[Sarre, Italy|Sarre]], in the [[Aosta Valley]], and isolated from the political life of the Royal House.

She sympathised with the partisans, and while she was a refugee in Switzerland, smuggled weapons, money and food for them.<ref name="cope"/> She was nominated for appointment as chief of a [[partisan brigade]], but declined.

==Queen for a month==
{{Infobox royal styles
| royal name = Queen Marie-José
| image = [[File:Armoiries Princesse Marie José de Belgique Reine d'Italie.svg|75px]]
| dipstyle = [[Majesty|Her Majesty]]
| offstyle = Your Majesty}}
Following Italy's defection to the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] side in the war, her discredited father-in-law, [[Victor Emmanuel III of Italy|King Victor Emmanuel III]], withdrew from government. Her husband became regent under the title of [[Lieutenant General of the Realm (Italy)|Lieutenant General of the Realm]]. He and Marie-José toured war torn Italy, where they made a positive impression. However, King Victor Emmanuel III refused to abdicate until only weeks before the referendum.

Upon the eventual abdication on 9 May 1946 of her father-in-law, Marie-José became [[Queen consort]] of Italy, and remained such until the [[Birth of the Italian Republic|monarchy was abolished by referendum]] on 2 June 1946, effective 12 June 1946.<ref name="cope"/>

Umberto and Marie-José had been widely praised for their performance over the last two years, and it has been argued that had Victor Emmanuel abdicated sooner their relative popularity might have saved the monarchy. Following the monarchy's defeat (54–46%), she and her husband left the country for exile on 13 June 1946.

==Exile==
In exile, the family gathered for a brief time on the [[Portuguese Riviera]], but she and Umberto separated. She and their four children soon left for [[Switzerland]], where she lived most of the time for the rest of her life, while Umberto remained in Portugal. However, the couple, both of whom were devout Catholics, never divorced. The republican constitution forbade the restoration of the monarchy and also barred all male members of the House of Savoy, as well as former queens consort, from returning to Italian soil.<ref name="cope"/>

==Death==
For some time, she lived in Mexico with her youngest daughter, Princess Maria Beatrice, and her grandchildren.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.libertaddigital.com/chic/corazon/2016-03-07/la-desgraciada-vida-de-la-princesa-titi-de-saboya-1276569308/|title=La desgraciada vida de la princesa Titi de Saboya|date=7 March 2016|publisher=Chic}}</ref>

Queen Marie-José returned to Italy after her husband's death in 1983. She died of [[lung cancer]] on 27 January 2001, at the age of 94, in a clinic in [[Thônex]] near [[Geneva]]. She survived her two brothers and some of her nieces and nephews, including [[Baudouin of Belgium|King Baudouin of the Belgians]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1141249.stm|title=Italy's last queen dies|date=6 June 2018|publisher=BBC}}</ref>

The funeral was held at [[Hautecombe Abbey]], in [[Savoy]] in the south of France, and was attended by 2,000 mourners. Among them were [[Albert II of Belgium|King Albert II of the Belgians]], [[King Juan Carlos I of Spain]] and [[Farah Pahlavi]], the last Empress of Iran.{{CN|date=November 2021}} She was buried in Hautecombe Abbey alongside her husband.

==Musical foundation==
Like her mother, [[Elisabeth of Bavaria (1876–1965)|Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria]], Marie-José inspired a musical contest. In 1959 she established the Fondation du prix de composition Reine Marie-José. It awarded its biennial prizes for the first time the following year. The first prize at the 1960 Concours was awarded to [[Giorgio Ferrari]] for his ''Quatuor à cordes avec une voix chantée''. Subsequent prize winners have included [[William Albright (musician)|William Albright]] (1968), [[Georg Katzer]] (1978), and [[Javier Torres Maldonado]] (2000). The 2017 prize was awarded to [[Jaehyuck Choi]].<ref>[http://fondationreinemariejose.ch/le-prix-de-composition/historique Historique du Prix] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511012909/http://fondationreinemariejose.ch/le-prix-de-composition/historique/ |date=11 May 2018 }}, Fondationreinemariejose.ch. Retrieved 10 May 2017</ref>

==Honours==
{{Unreferenced section|date=November 2021}}
===National dynastic honours===
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Italy}} [[House of Savoy]]: Knight Grand Cordon of the [[Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]]

===Foreign honours===
* {{flag|Holy See}}: Knight of the [[Order of the Golden Spur]]
* {{flag|Sovereign Military Order of Malta}}: Knight Grand Cross of [[Medals, awards and orders of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta|Justice of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Special Class]]
* {{flagicon|Austria-Hungary}} [[House of Habsburg|Austrian Imperial and Royal Family]]: Dame of the [[Order of the Starry Cross|Imperial and Royal Order of the Starry Cross, 1st Class]]
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Greece}} [[Greek Royal Family]]: Dame Grand Cross of the [[Order of Saints Olga and Sophia|Royal Order of Saints Olga and Sophia, 1st Class]]

===Arms and monogram===
<gallery class="center" heights="270" widths="220">
File:Armoiries Princesse Marie José de Belgique Reine d'Italie.svg|Alliance Coat of Arms of King Umberto II and Queen Maria-José
File:Royal Monogram of Queen Marie José of Italy.svg|Royal Monogram of Queen Maria-José of Italy
</gallery>

==Portrayal in the arts==
===Music===
* Dutch singer [[Petra Berger]]'s song "Terra Promessa", the first song from her album ''[[Eternal Woman]]'', is about Marie-José.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Berger |first1=Petra |title=Terra Promessa |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwS5jtzQ4bo |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/YwS5jtzQ4bo |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|via=YouTube |access-date=4 September 2018 |language=it |date=12 June 2011 |quote=Clip from the DVD ''Live in Concert'' (2004)}}{{cbignore}}</ref>{{BSN|date=November 2021}}

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1= background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2= background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3= background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4= background-color: #bfc;
|boxstyle_5= background-color: #9fe;
|1= 1. '''Marie-José of Belgium'''
|2= 2. [[Albert I of Belgium]]
|3= 3. [[Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of the Belgians|Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria]]
|4= 4. [[Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders]]
|5= 5. [[Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen]]
|6= 6. [[Duke Karl Theodor in Bavaria]]
|7= 7. [[Infanta Maria José of Portugal]]
|8= 8. [[Leopold I of Belgium]]
|9= 9. [[Louise of Orléans|Princess Louise of Orléans]]
|10= 10. [[Karl Anton, Prince of Hohenzollern (died 1885)|Karl Anton, Prince of Hohenzollern]]
|11= 11. [[Princess Josephine of Baden]]
|12= 12. [[Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria]]
|13= 13. [[Princess Ludovika of Bavaria]]
|14= 14. [[Miguel I of Portugal]]
|15= 15. [[Adelaide of Löwenstein|Princess Adelaide of Löwenstein]] 
}}

==See also==
* [[Academia Belgica]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Queen Marie-José of Italy}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050830122038/http://reinemariejose.ch/en/index.html "Queen Marie-José international musical composition prize"], reinemariejose.ch. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060329012035/http://www.italystl.com/italianclub/rondine/ronfeb01.htm#r3 short biography in the February 2001 issue of ''La Rondine'']. Retrieved 5 June 2018.

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]]|4 August|1906|27 January|2001|[[House of Wettin]]}}
{{S-roy|it}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Elena of Montenegro|Princess Elena<br>of Montenegro]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Italian queens|Queen consort of Italy]]|years=9 May – 12 June 1946}}
{{s-non|reason=[[1946 Italian institutional referendum|Monarchy<br>abolished]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Belgian princesses}}
{{Princesses of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha}}
{{Princesses of Piedmont}}
{{Princesses of Savoy by marriage}}
{{Italian consorts}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marie-José Of Belgium}}
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:2001 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Belgian people]]
[[Category:21st-century Belgian people]]
[[Category:20th-century Belgian women]]
[[Category:21st-century Belgian women]]
[[Category:Princesses of Belgium]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung cancer in Switzerland]]
[[Category:Princesses of Savoy]]
[[Category:House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Belgium)]]
[[Category:House of Belgium]]
[[Category:Queens consort of Italy]]
[[Category:People from Ostend]]
[[Category:People educated at Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School]]
[[Category:Princesses of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]]
[[Category:Knights of Malta]]
[[Category:Burials at Hautecombe Abbey]]
[[Category:Italian exiles]]
[[Category:Exiled royalty]]
[[Category:Daughters of kings]]
[[Category:Umberto II of Italy]]
[[Category:Belgian emigrants to Italy]]
[[Category:Italian people of Belgian descent]]
[[Category:Italian people of German descent]]
[[Category:Belgian people of German descent]]

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Marie-José of Belgium