Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy has died

(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 3 - Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, the son of Italy's last king Umberto II, died on Saturday morning aged 86.
    "At 7. 05 a.m. this morning, 3 February 2024, His Royal Highness Vittorio Emanuele, Duke of Savoy and Prince of Naples, passed away peacefully in Geneva surrounded by his family," the House of Savoy said in a statement.
    "The place and date of the funeral will be announced as soon as possible," the statement added.
    Vittorio Emanuele would have turned 87 on February 12.
    The House of Savoy ruled Italy from unification in 1861 to 1946, when Italians voted in an institutional referendum on June 2 to abolish the monarchy and create the Italian republic.
    Reviled by many Italians for collaborating with Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini before and during World War II and fleeing Rome in 1943 to avoid the invading German army, after the referendum Umberto II and his family went into exile in Switzerland.
    A constitutional ban on the return to Italy of male heirs to the discredited royal family was lifted in 2002. (ANSA).