Prince Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, Prince of Naples[1] (Vittorio Emanuele Alberto Carlo Teodoro Umberto Bonifacio Amedeo Damiano Bernardino Gennaro Maria di Savoia;[2][3] 12 February 1937 – 3 February 2024), was the only son of Umberto II, the last King of Italy, and Marie-José of Belgium.

After an eleven-year relationship, Vittorio Emanuele married Swiss biscuit heiress and world-ranked water skier Marina Doria in Tehran, Iran, on 7 October 1971.

Amedeo received the support of the President of the Council of Senators of the Kingdom Aldo Alessandro Mola and Vittorio Emanuele's sister, Maria Gabriella.

In February 2010, the court of Arezzo[13] ruled that the Duke of Aosta and his son must pay damages totalling €50,000 to their cousins and cease using the surname Savoy instead of Savoy-Aosta.

[14] However, the verdict was overturned on appeal, with the court of second resort allowing Amedeo the use of the short surname, in the form of di Savoia, and additionally revoking the financial penalty originally imposed on him.

[21] Upon their first visit in 2003 to Naples, where Vittorio Emanuele was born, and from where his family sailed into exile in 1946, the reception of the Savoys was mixed; most people were indifferent to them, some hostile, a few supportive.

The media reported that many in Naples were not happy to see the return of the family when hundreds of noisy demonstrators chanted negative slogans as they progressed through the city.

Vittorio Emanuele took this action after his father allegedly called for Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta to visit him in Portugal to name him his heir.

[31] Under his self-assumed powers as King of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele conferred the title of Duchess of Sant'Anna di Valdieri on his then-fiancée, Marina Doria.

[34] On 11 October 1989, Vittorio Emanuele was indicted on charges of inflicting lethal injury and possession of a dangerous weapon.

However, on 18 November 1991, after thirteen years of legal proceedings, the Paris Assize Court acquitted him of the fatal wounding and unintentional homicide charges, finding him guilty only of unauthorised possession of an M1 carbine.

[35] When incarcerated in June 2006, on unconnected charges of corruption (see below, Arrest and imprisonment), Vittorio Emanuele was recorded admitting that "I was in the wrong, [...] but I must say I fooled them [the French judges]",[36] leading to a call from Dirk Hamer's sister Birgit for Vittorio Emanuele to be retried in Italy for killing her brother.

"[38] The story of the video was broken by aristocratic journalist Beatrice Borromeo,[39] who also wrote the preface for a book on the murder, Delitto senza castigo by Birgit Hamer.

("Winning a case is always nice, but against Victor Emmanuel of Savoy the pleasure is double"),[41] which resulted in a spat on Twitter with his son Emanuele Filiberto.

[43] In response, the president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, Amos Luzzatto, stated "I'm not saying it was he who signed the racial laws in 1938.

[44] On 27 January 2005, in a letter published by Il Corriere della Sera, Vittorio Emanuele issued an apology to Italy's Jewish population, asking forgiveness from the Italian Jewish community, and declaring that it was an error for the Italian Royal Family to have signed the racial laws of 1938.

[54] In June 2023, his son Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice, announced his intention to renounce his claim to the throne in favour of his daughter, Princess Vittoria of Savoy, when he felt she was ready to succeed.