Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Aug 22, 2026

Italy’s exiled royals want their jewels back

Italy’s exiled royals want their jewels back

Descendants of Italy’s last king have formally requested that the state return their priceless jewels.
Lawyers representing the descendants of Italy's last monarch will meet with representatives of the Bank of Italy and the government on Tuesday, in an attempt to negotiate the return of the crown jewels to the Savoy family, which have been held by the bank since 1946. Should they fail to reach an agreement, the Savoys plan to sue the state, Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper reported.

One way or another, “the Savoy family will get the jewels back,” the family’s lawyer stated.

Encompassing more than 6,700 diamonds and 2,000 pearls mounted on necklaces, bracelets, tiaras, and brooches, the collection is valued somewhere between €18 million ($20.3 million) and €300 million ($338 million). No evaluation has been carried out, and the jewels haven’t been in royal hands for more than 75 years.

Italians voted to abolish the country’s monarchy in June 1946, and King Umberto II, who had ruled for just over a month at that point, was banished into exile shortly afterwards. However, Umberto had sent the jewels to the Bank of Italy for safekeeping before leaving Italy, where they have remained to the present day.

The jewels were never formally confiscated by the Italian government, a fact that Umberto’s descendants in the House of Savoy are hoping will count in their favor when asking for them back. Additionally, a delivery report that accompanied the jewels to the bank in 1946 stated that they were to be kept available to those with the “right” to them.

The Savoys first made an informal request for the return of the jewels in November, which was rebuffed by the bank. The family have not yet taken any formal action to get the collection back, and male descendents of Umberto were only allowed back into Italy in 2002. Beforehand, they had spent 65 years in exile between Portugal and Switzerland.

Upon his return to Italy in 2003, Umberto’s son, Vittorio Emanuele, claimed that he no longer wanted the jewels, suggesting they be put on display instead, something that never happened.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Bitcoin Surges Toward $80,000 as Short Squeeze and ETF Inflows Ignite Crypto Rally
Twenty-Nine US States Take Meta to Trial Over Alleged Child Addiction on Instagram and Facebook
Former Scottish National Party Executive Peter Murrell Jailed for Five Years Over £400,000 Embezzlement
Moderna and Merck's Personalized Cancer Vaccine Succeeds in Historic Late-Stage Melanoma Trial
Prince Harry and Meghan to Move Back to Britain With Their Children
England and Wales Have Fewer Than 1,800 Prison Places Left for Men
Suspected People Smuggler Arrested After Investigation Identified Him
Children's Doctors Warn That Vaping Can Lead Young People to Smoking
Hundreds of Thousands of Students Receive GCSE and Vocational Results Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Here Is What Can Never Happen in Your Country: Taiwan Is Giving Money to All Its People Because It Collected Too Much Tax
UK Inflation Rises to 2.9% as Energy Bills Jump
UK Issues New Conduct Guide for Asylum Seekers on Consent and Respect
A Sleepless Night on Wall Street: Nasdaq to Begin Nearly Round-the-Clock Trading
"The First in the World": 69-Year-Old Protested Artificial Intelligence—and Went to Jail
Ukraine's Ousted Defence Minister Calls for Wartime Presidential Election
China’s Lifelike AI Humans Move From Livestreams Into Real-World Service Roles
Sarah Ferguson Reportedly Retreats to Late Ex-Boyfriend's Swiss Chalet
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
Thieves Steal Antonello da Messina Renaissance Masterpieces From Sicilian Museum
Better.com Founder Who Fired 900 Employees on Zoom Is Ousted as CEO
Italian Speed Camera Issues Nearly 32,000 Fines in 10 Weeks, Worth More Than €3 Million
AI Manager at San Francisco Store Recommends Firing Human Employee
Google Launches Pixel 11 With Gemini AI at the Center of Its Hardware Strategy
Reform UK Unveils Plan to Cut Welfare Spending by More Than £50 Billion a Year
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Praised Extinction Rebellion for Doing a 'Great Service'
UK Wildfire Phone Alert Triggers Backlash as Users Switch Off Emergency Warnings
Heathrow Roads Reopen After Burst Water Main Floods Access to Terminals 2 and 3
Former NBA Players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White Say They Will Enter 2027 WNBA Draft
Former Cambridge Professor Jason Arday Found Dead Days After Resigning Amid Plagiarism Row
US Appeals Court Rules AI Agent's Website Actions Are Legally Attributed to the User
France's Constitutional Council Blocks Social Media Ban for Children Under 15
Liechtenstein Changes Royal Succession Rules to Allow Women to Inherit the Throne
Women Allege Rape and Sexual Abuse at British Army College for Teenage Recruits
Minnesota: Two independent investigators posed as Muslims (one wearing a burqa) and showed how they could vote in elections without identification.
China’s Kimi Launches AI-Focused Credit Card With Agricultural Bank of China and American Express
Former Labour Adviser Arrested on Suspicion of Spying for China Held Privileged Access as Top Party Donor
Turkish Parliament Passes Landmark Bill Granting Conditional Amnesty to Disarmed PKK Members
Donald Trump Warns FIFA Against Ousting Gianni Infantino Amid Revolt by Global Football Leaders
Jeff Bezos Joins Investor Group Closing In on $6 Billion Liverpool FC Stake
UK Councils to Receive Sweeping Planning Powers to Ban New Vape and Betting Shops
Russia’s A7 Builds a State-Linked Payments Network Beyond Western Sanctions
Hyper-Realistic Reborn Dolls Draw Collectors Seeking Comfort and Craft
Gen Z Cuts Back on Dating as a Night Out Nears $200
Patients Turn to Artificial Intelligence for Therapy as Psychiatrists Warn of Privacy and Clinical Risks
Couples Embrace ‘Sleep Divorce’ to Protect Rest and Reduce Tension
Meta Ordered to Pay $567 Million and Change Facebook and Instagram Safeguards for Children
Up to only 10 Months in Prison for Swedish Officer’s Murderer Sparks Anger
Success: Nvidia Turned Gaming Chips Into the Engine of the AI Boom
Jorge Messi, Lionel Messi’s Father and Longtime Agent, Dies at 68
AI’s Next Bottleneck Is Power, Not Just Nvidia Chips
×