Sunday, September 19, 2010

[Italy] Little focus on Emanuele Filiberto and his wife Clotilde Courau, prince and princess of Venice and Piedmont


Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice and Piedmont (Emanuele Filiberto Umberto Reza Rene Maria di Savoia; born 22 June 1972) is a member of the House of Savoy and the only child and heir of Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples. He is the grandson of Umberto II, last King of Italy. All the titles and distinctions of the Italian royal family have been legally abolished, though he is still styled Prince of Venice and Piedmont by monarchists. He is commonly known in Italy as Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia.

Clotilde, Princess of Venice and Piedmont (née Clotilde Marie Pascale Courau, born on 3 April 1969 in Levallois-Perret, Hauts-de-Seine, France) is a French actress, daughter of Jean-Claude Courau (born in 1942), and wife Catherine du Pontavice des Renardières (born in 1948). She has three sisters named Christiane, Camille, and Capucine Courau.

Emanuele Filiberto married Clotilde Courau in Rome at the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels, on 25 September 2003. The basilica was built on the ruins of the Diocletian baths, and is where Filiberto's great-grandfather King Victor Emmanuel III married Helen of Montenegro in 1896. Prince Albert of Monaco, who introduced the couple in 2003, was the best man. Around 1,200 people are thought to have attended the wedding. The bride, then six months pregnant, wore a Valentino dress, a veil held in place by a diamond tiara and gems belonging to the House of Savoy.

The couple have two daughters:
- Princess Vittoria of Savoy, born on 29 December 2003
- Princess Luisa of Savoy, born on 16 August 2006

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