The proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy happened with a normative act of the Savoyard Kingdom of Sardinia — the law 17 March 1861, n. 4761 — with which Victor Emmanuel II assumed for himself and for his successors the title of King of Italy.

Following the Second Italian War of Independence and the Expedition of the Thousand, led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, in the two-year period 1859–60, the goal of the unification of Italy had been largely achieved, with the sole exception of the Triveneto and Lazio.

The Chamber of Deputies in the response speech to Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy, written by Giuseppe Ferrari and dated 13 March 1861, already declared that: The suffrages of a whole people place the crown of Italy on your head blessed by ProvidenceImmediately after the start of the legislature, on 21 February, the then Prime Minister Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour presented to the Senate a bill, consisting of a single article, to formalize the new name of the King.

King Victor Emmanuel II assumes for himself and for his successors the title of King of ItalyIn the Report Cavour recalled that Parliament, on the solemn day of the royal session, with the enthusiasm of gratitude and affection, hailed Victor Emmanuel II, King of Italy.However, in the text approved by the Senate a second article also appears on the question of the heading of legislative acts.

The acts of the Government and any other act which must be titled in the name of the King will be headed with the following formula: (In the name of the King) By the Grace of God and the will of the Nation KING OF ITALYThe numeral of Victor Emmanuel of Savoy continued to be "second", not "first", as a sign of the continuity of the House of Savoy dynasty which had achieved Italian unification[4] and of the continuity of the Statuto Albertino.