Umberto was born in Turin, the fourth son of Prince Amadeo of Savoy, Duke of Aosta, the only one by his second wife and niece Princess Maria Letizia Bonaparte (1866–1926) the daughter of Prince Napoléon and Princess Maria Clotilde of Savoy.

[1] In July Victor Emmanuel ordered that he be detained at the Castle of Moncalieri and then spend eighteen months aboard a man-of-war, during which time a Carabinieri colonel would act as his tutor and keeper.

[2] During the First World War Umberto volunteered to serve in the Royal Italian Army.

[3] During the war he was awarded a silver medal for bravery displayed while acting as a bombing officer.

The official court bulletin recorded that he was killed in action, but in fact he was a victim of the 1918 influenza pandemic.